New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged the private sector to have a major footprint in the field, noting that Indian students have been going to many small nations for medical education despite the language barrier.

Modi suggested that state governments formulate "good regulations" for land allotment for medical education so as to enable India produce a large number of doctors and paramedics to meet even worldwide demand while speaking at a webinar on the Union budget announcements on the health sector.

His words are particularly poignant at a time when a huge number of Indian students, many of whom are studying medical, are stranded in Ukraine as a result of Russia's onslaught.

Modi, on the other hand, made no mention of the crisis. Modi said, Indian students studying overseas, particularly in medical education, cause hundreds of billions of rupees to leave the nation. "Today, our children are studying in small countries, particularly in medical education." There is a language barrier there. They're still going strong... Isn't it possible for our commercial sector to make a significant contribution to this field? Can't our state governments come up with excellent land-allocation rules in this regard," he asked.

In this field, India can reap significant benefits from its demographic dividend, he added, noting that Indian doctors have boosted the country's international reputation in recent decades.

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