Mumbai: Nearly one in three applications for TimesPro’s healthcare management executive education programmes came from Tier-2 cities in 2025, compared with approximately one in five in 2023. TimesPro, the higher EdTech initiative of The Times Group, recorded an increase in the share of applications from these cities from 21% to 32% over the two-year period. Healthcare management registered the highest proportion of Tier-2 applications among the executive education categories examined, pointing to growing interest in specialised healthcare management education beyond India’s major metropolitan centres.
The trend coincides with the expansion of healthcare infrastructure and services across India’s smaller cities. According to KPMG, India’s multi-speciality hospital market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 12% between 2024 and 2028, supported by wider insurance coverage, investment in hospital infrastructure and technological developments in healthcare delivery. The report also identifies Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities as important markets for hospital expansion and consolidation. As healthcare providers extend their operations into these locations, managing facilities, financial resources, patient services and increasingly technology-dependent operations calls for specialised management capabilities.
The distinction becomes more pronounced when healthcare management applications are compared with TimesPro’s wider executive education portfolio. In 2025, Tier-2 cities accounted for approximately 17% of applications across all programme categories, against 32% for healthcare management. The category recorded a higher share of applications from these locations than general management, finance and banking, and project management, suggesting a stronger geographical spread of interest in healthcare management education.
The findings also form part of a broader shift in the geographical distribution of executive education applications. Across TimesPro’s overall portfolio, applications from Tier-2 cities grew by nearly 295% between 2023 and 2025. Within this wider trend, healthcare management stands out for the proportion of applicants it attracts from smaller cities, indicating that interest in specialised healthcare management education extends well beyond the country’s established metropolitan centres.
Sridhar Nagarajachar, VP & Business Head – Executive Education, TimesPro, said, “As healthcare services expand in smaller cities, professionals there are increasingly taking on more complex responsibilities. They must understand staffing, budgets, patient experience and technology, often all at once. The growing share of applications from these cities signals an interest in structured management training. Our task is to make that learning relevant and manageable alongside the demands of their jobs.”
TimesPro’s healthcare executive education portfolio includes programmes from IIM Nagpur in collaboration with AIIMS Nagpur, IIM Calcutta, IIM Indore, IIT Delhi and XLRI. The programmes span advanced healthcare management, healthcare product development and management and global strategy and leadership, addressing the diverse managerial and technological requirements of the healthcare sector.
The findings point to a gradual shift in the geographical composition of healthcare management education applications. While metropolitan cities remain important markets, the growing representation of Tier-2 applicants suggests that professionals beyond these centres are increasingly recognising the value of specialised management education. This changing pattern also reflects the need for managerial capabilities as healthcare organisations expand their operations across India’s emerging urban centres.
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