New Delhi: India is rapidly emerging as a major centre for robotic surgery, with Delhi NCR leading the country in both robotic-system installations and the volume of robotic-assisted procedures, according to experts.
The experts were participating in the Society of Robotic Surgery (SRS) India 2026 conference, which is being held here, bringing the global organisation's international meeting to Asia for the first time and highlighting India's growing capabilities in advanced, minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgery.
Addressing the conference through a video message, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said India was at an "exciting juncture" in healthcare innovation, with strengths in technology, artificial intelligence, digital health and a rapidly expanding ecosystem of surgical robotics.
"India has the opportunity not merely to adopt the technology of the future but innovate, develop and lead," Nadda said, adding that the country was increasingly becoming an important global destination for healthcare innovation and advanced surgical technology.
Delhi NCR has 39 hospitals with robotic systems, while 11 hospitals have more than one such system, making the region the country's leading hub for robotic-system installations, according to data presented at the conference.
The number of robotic-assisted procedures in the region has risen sharply from 2,257 in 2021 to 3,594 in 2022, 5,024 in 2023, 7,595 in 2024 and 10,937 in 2025 -- an almost five-fold increase in four years.
"Delhi NCR has emerged as a leading force in India's robotic surgery journey, with the highest concentration of robotic-system installations in the country and a rapidly expanding volume of procedures," said Dr Vivek Bindal, organising chairman, SRS India, and principal director and head, Department of Minimal Access, Bariatric and Robotic Surgery, Max Hospital, Delhi.
He said the presence of robotic systems across 39 hospitals, including 11 with multiple systems, reflected the depth of expertise and institutional adoption in the region.
The growth has been reported across multiple specialities. In 2025, about 33 per cent of robotic procedures in Delhi NCR were general surgery-benign procedures, 30.2 per cent urology, 22.1 per cent gynaecology and 10 per cent general surgery-malignant procedures.
Robotic procedures are also being performed in head and neck, thoracic and cardiac surgery.
Across India, robotic-assisted procedures increased from 8,912 in 2021 to 44,857 in 2025, underscoring the rapid expansion of robotic surgery beyond major early-adopter centres.
"India is now at a defining moment in robotic surgery. The rapid rise in robotic procedures shows how quickly the technology is being adopted and how clinical expertise is expanding across the country," said Dr Anup Kumar, organising chairman (urology), SRS India, and head of the Department of Urology, Robotic and Renal Transplant, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital.
India's robotic-surgery ecosystem is also moving towards telesurgery, which could allow specialist surgeons to operate remotely across geographical boundaries.
Dr Kumar recently performed a robotic telesurgery procedure remotely from Gurugram on a patient at Preeti Kidney and Urology Hospital in Hyderabad, covering more than 1,600 km.
The procedure was subsequently highlighted by Nadda as an example of the potential of technology-enabled surgical care.
Separately, Dr Bindal led a cross-border live robotic telesurgery demonstration between India and China in collaboration with BORNS Robotics.
Surgeons at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Vaishali, remotely operated a robotic console nearly 5,000 km away in Chengdu, China, performing pre-clinical procedures.
Experts said such demonstrations could eventually support remote surgical training, tele-mentoring and the delivery of specialised expertise to hospitals in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, subject to appropriate clinical, regulatory and technological safeguards.
The international consensus recommendations on remote robotic-assisted surgery published in the World Journal of Surgery in 2026 have also addressed requirements relating to connectivity, cybersecurity, training, credentialing, emergency preparedness and regulation. Bindal is among the authors of the publication.
With 10,937 robotic-assisted procedures recorded in Delhi NCR in 2025 and 44,857 procedures nationally, experts said India was moving from early adoption towards a broader ecosystem of robotic surgical expertise, clinical experience and innovation.
