Healthcare providers in India are expected to spend $1.1 billion on IT products and services in 2014, an increase of 5 percent from last year, according to Gartner, an information technology research and advisory company. This includes spending by healthcare providers (including hospitals and hospital systems, as well as ambulatory services and physicians' practices) on internal services, software, IT services, data center, devices, and telecom services.

IT Services,  which includes consulting, implementation, IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing, will be the largest overall spending category throughout the forecast period within the health care providers sector. It is expected to reach $300 million in 2014, up from $280 million in 2013 - with the consulting segment growing 10 percent.

"India has a new government, and the Ministry of Health will closely examine ways to deliver cost effective healthcare across the country. Delivering wide access to healthcare in an affordable manner will be a top priority for the wider public healthcare system. The organised private healthcare sector will continue its expansion across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, as well as niche sectors like maternity and child health. We expect emphasis on eHealth, mobile health, telemedicine, public private partnership and leveraging innovative delivery models," said Mr Anurag Gupta, research director at Gartner.