India's Aging Population and the Rise of Senior Care Startups

His parents, based in India's Kolkata city, were visiting him when his father had a health crisis. Bhattacharyya managed to get him medical care, but when it was time for them to go back, he faced a question familiar to many Indians - how do you care for your parents when you can't be there in person?

Between 2020 and 2050, the number of people aged 60 and above globally is projected to double to 2.1 billion, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). India is expected to mirror this - by 2050, one in every five Indians will be above the age of 60, close to 21% of the total population.

Until a few decades ago, there was little discussion in India on caring for elderly people as the expectation was that families would step in, the UNFPA notes.

This, however, has been complicated by factors including the shrinking of joint families. As younger people move away from their families, and with limited social infrastructure to support the elderly, a gap is only widening, experts say.

Many start-ups are already moving in. These companies are looking to address several areas including senior living, home care and technology-enabled services. While their goal is to help older adults live and age more independently, their customers are often the children of the people they help.

An area seeing an uptick is organised senior living, mainly due to higher incomes and changing family structures. But some experts believe that demand is far ahead of supply.

Anantharam Varayur, a former tech executive, co-founded Manasum Senior Living after he saw many older people in India living restricted lives compared with their peers in the US.

In 2015, when he first set up a promotional stall at an event by a large Indian community in the US, hoping to draw interest from younger Indians due to their familiarity with the concept, hardly anyone came to ask questions - he thinks this was due to the 'stigma' associated with leaving older family members in an 'old age home', as they are traditionally called in India.

But things have changed - his company already has 900 operational units, mostly in Bengaluru and Goa, and plans to scale up to 10,000 units by 2030, including a luxury project.

They get enquiries from senior citizens whose children live abroad, couples with adult children with special needs, older single people, and even younger people planning for the future.

What was once a fragmented, hyperlocal market run by small agencies is now seeing the rise of firms that offer end-to-end home-care services and use technology to scale up. Examples include Emoha Elder Care Services, Care24 and KITES Senior Care, among others.

The challenge goes beyond skills. Caregivers also need thorough vetting and specialised training to support a demographic that is vulnerable to fraud, financial scams and other forms of exploitation.

Founder Shantanu Naidu says that they are not aiming to replace family, but to fill a void by offering spirited, empathetic youth companions for elderly clients for some quality time together or even to just help them with technology.

Prajith Nair, co-founder of NoBlink.ai, says that they aim to 'build at scale so that it is available at economical and affordable cost'.

He says that the company is currently selling these systems to senior living projects at 13,500 rupees ($141.74; £106.42) per device and a monthly monitoring fee of onwards of 50 rupees per room, one tenth the price of what some similar products abroad.

NITI Aayog says 78% of India's elderly population is without a pension, which could restrict their ability to access these services. Households with at least one elderly person have a lower monthly per capita income of around 3,568 rupees as compared with 4,098 rupees for a unit without an elderly member.

Earlier this year, Kerala became the first Indian state to pass a landmark law for senior citizens centred on rights to affordable care, legal aid, digital inclusion and safe public spaces.

Industry experts say India still has time before it reaches a demographic crossroad. But caring for millions more elderly citizens will require robust support systems. A strong ecosystem of businesses serving senior citizens could play a role in bridging that gap.