Heart and lung transplant in India: the honest answer

The constraint: Hearts and lungs must come from a deceased donor. There is no living-donor route
Allocation: India's deceased-donor organs go to Indian citizens on the national list
What that means: Heart and lung transplant is generally not available to foreign nationals
What is available: LVAD, resynchronisation devices, valve and bypass surgery, medical optimisation
Indicative cost: LVAD $125,000 with a 30-day stay; CRT-D $16,000
First step: A cardiologist reviews your reports on video and tells you what is realistic, free

Why the answer is different from kidney and liver

Kidney and liver transplants are available to international patients in India because both can be done from a living donor: a person has two kidneys and can donate one, and the liver regenerates so a donor can give part of theirs. You bring your own donor, who must be a near relative, and the transplant proceeds under the legal framework set out on organ transplant in India.

A heart cannot be donated by a living person. Lungs, in practice, essentially cannot either. Both therefore depend on the national deceased-donor system, and that system exists to serve Indian citizens who are on its waiting list. A foreign national cannot realistically join that list and be allocated an organ ahead of them.

Be careful with anyone who tells you otherwise. You will find pages quoting a heart transplant price in India, and an agency willing to take a deposit. Ask the specific question: where would the organ come from, and how would a foreign national be allocated one? If the answer is vague, walk away. This is the area of medical travel where the most money is lost by the most desperate people. Rules can change, and they vary in detail, so confirm the current position with the hospital's transplant coordinator directly rather than taking any website's word for it, including this one.

What is available for advanced heart failure

A transplant being out of reach is not the same as nothing being possible, and for many people arriving at this page the more useful question is whether their heart failure has been fully treated. Several of these are on the partner price list.

Fixing the cause, where there is one. Heart failure caused by blocked arteries or a failing valve sometimes improves substantially once that is corrected. Bypass surgery from an indicative $4,600 and valve replacement from $4,500 are not transplant alternatives in general, but for the right patient they treat the reason the heart is failing.
Cardiac resynchronisation therapy. Where the heart's chambers have fallen out of step, a CRT device coordinates them again and can improve symptoms and heart function markedly. A CRT-D, which also defibrillates, is an indicative $16,000 with a five-day stay.
An implantable defibrillator. Where the risk is a sudden fatal rhythm rather than progressive failure, an ICD at an indicative $9,500 to $15,000 addresses that specific risk.
An LVAD. A mechanical pump implanted to take over the work of the left ventricle. The HeartMate 3 is an indicative $125,000 with a thirty-day stay, which makes it the most expensive item on this site by a wide margin.
Optimising medication. Unglamorous and frequently the thing that has not been done. The medicines for heart failure have improved considerably, and many patients arrive on an incomplete or under-dosed combination. A cardiologist reviewing your list is free and occasionally changes more than any device would.

About the LVAD, honestly

In countries with active transplant programmes, an LVAD is often a bridge: it supports the patient until a donor heart becomes available. Used as a destination therapy, meaning the pump is the final treatment rather than a bridge, it is a different proposition and one that deserves clear thinking.

It is major surgery with a thirty-day hospital stay. Afterwards you live with an external controller and batteries, connected through the skin by a driveline that has to be kept meticulously clean, because driveline infection is a constant risk. You take blood-thinning medication with regular monitoring. You need a centre that can manage LVAD complications within reach.

That last point is the one to weigh hardest if you are travelling from a country without an LVAD programme. An implanted pump that develops a problem thousands of kilometres from anyone trained to manage it is a serious situation. At $125,000 plus the follow-up burden, this needs an unusually frank conversation about what happens after you go home, and we would rather have that conversation with you before you travel than after.

Advanced lung disease

The same transplant constraint applies. What is worth pursuing instead is whether the underlying disease has been fully addressed: pulmonary rehabilitation, correct inhaler technique and medication, oxygen assessment, treatment of pulmonary hypertension where present, and management of any infection or occupational exposure driving it.

Where lung disease is caused by something treatable, that is worth establishing definitively. Tuberculosis and its after-effects, in particular, are extremely well understood in India and the treatment is inexpensive here. A firm diagnosis is worth a great deal when what you have been given so far is a label.

What we will tell you

If you write to us about a heart or lung transplant, you will get a clear answer about availability rather than an invitation to send a deposit. If a cardiologist thinks something useful can be done, they will say what. If they think travelling will not help you, they will say that too, and it costs you nothing to find out.

We would rather lose the enquiry than take money for a journey that cannot end the way you are hoping.

Indicative partner-hospital package prices, USD, as at July 2026.
Procedure	Indicative cost	Hospital stay
ICD, single / dual chamber	$9,500 / $15,000	Short stay
CRT-D (resynchronisation defibrillator)	$16,000	5 days
LVAD (HeartMate 3 pump)	$125,000	30 days

How to read these figures. Indicative partner-hospital package prices as at July 2026, not a quotation. Included: hospital charges, the surgeon's fee, medicines given during your stay, and any implants and consumables. Not included: pre-operative investigations, flights, visa, accommodation outside the hospital stay, or treatment for complications. Your written estimate follows a specialist's review of your reports. No part of it is a fee to us; the hospital pays us, so your bill is never marked up. There is no price for heart or lung transplant on this page, because they are not on the partner list and, more importantly, because we are not in a position to offer the procedure to a foreign national. A price would imply an availability that does not exist.

Questions patients ask

Can a foreigner get a heart transplant in India?

Generally no. A heart must come from a deceased donor, and India's deceased-donor organs are allocated to Indian citizens on the national waiting list. There is no living-donor route for a heart. If a site quotes you a heart transplant price, ask specifically where the organ would come from and how a foreign national would be allocated one.

Why can I get a kidney or liver transplant but not a heart?

Because kidney and liver transplants can be done from a living donor. A person has two kidneys and can give one, and the liver regenerates so a donor can give part of theirs. You bring your own donor, who must be a near relative. A heart cannot be donated by a living person, so it depends entirely on the deceased-donor system.

Is a lung transplant possible for an international patient in India?

In practice, no, for the same reason. Lungs come from deceased donors and those organs serve Indian citizens. What is worth pursuing is whether the underlying lung disease has been fully treated, including a firm diagnosis, rehabilitation, correct medication and treatment of any reversible cause.

What can be done if I need a heart transplant and cannot have one?

More than people often assume. If the heart failure has a fixable cause such as blocked arteries or a failing valve, correcting it can help substantially. Cardiac resynchronisation at an indicative $16,000 improves symptoms where the chambers have fallen out of step. An LVAD at $125,000 mechanically supports the heart. And optimising heart failure medication, which is frequently incomplete, is free to review.

How much does an LVAD cost in India?

The indicative partner-hospital price for a HeartMate 3 is $125,000 with a thirty-day hospital stay, which makes it by a wide margin the most expensive procedure on this site. Weigh it against what happens afterwards: you live with an external controller, batteries and a driveline through the skin, and you need a centre able to manage complications within reach of where you live.

Someone has offered to arrange a heart transplant in India. Should I proceed?

Ask them, in writing, where the organ would come from and how a foreign national would be allocated one from the national deceased-donor list. A vague answer is your answer. This is the part of medical travel where the most money is taken from the most desperate people, and a deposit paid on a promise like this is rarely recovered.

Could the rules change?

Transplant law and allocation policy do change, and details vary. Confirm the current position with a hospital transplant coordinator directly rather than relying on any website, this one included. What will not change is that a heart has to come from a deceased donor.