Bangalore: In an effort to promote Bangalore as a medicare destination of the country, Karnataka would soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Kingdom of Bahrain to attract Bahraini patients for specialised healthcare treatment to the city, Minister for Tourism and IT D B Inamdar said on October 14.

"The best of medical talent and treatment facilities are here and we can offer those services to international clients at competitive prices, in some cases nearly 50 per cent cheaper than other centres," Inamdar told reporters.

Bahrain with a population of about six lakhs has about 1.2 lakh people of Indian origin, which he said, would be initially targetted and word spread among Bahraini nationals.

Inamdar said the government was planning to promote the state as an "old-age home" destination, with old-age homes built through private initiatives and connected to hospitals.

"We are looking at this potential," he said, adding that the healthcare destination was initially promoted at the International Health Tourism and Holidays exhibition recently held at Bahrain.

Karnataka Tourism Commissioner Mahendra Jain said the government was planning to meet with organisations like the National Health Services (NHS) in United Kingdom to offer healthcare services to its citizens in Bangalore.

Besides allopathy, the other forms of medicine offered include ayurveda, yoga along with naturopathy and homeopathy.

PTI