Kerala has long been India’s healthcare model — high literacy, strong outcomes, a diaspora that pays for quality care. Now, private equity giants KKR and Blackstone are betting big on it, pumping nearly $900 million into the state’s hospitals in just two years. For global funds, the logic is simple: chronic disease, ageing patients, NRI money. For doctors like Charlie Cherian, who spent decades building a community hospital from scratch, the math is more personal. Can independent, affordable, doctor-run hospitals survive the corporate onslaught? And what happens to patients when healthcare becomes just another asset class?

Reported by Alenjith K Johny, narrated for audio by Anirban Chowdhury