For most people with kidney failure, a transplant offers longer life and better quality of life than staying on dialysis — especially when it comes from a living donor before dialysis is even needed. India's programmes are living-donor led, well established, and priced within reach, with five-year survival that stands comparison with the best. 1
A transplant is considered for people with end-stage kidney disease — kidney function that has fallen to the point of needing dialysis, or close to it. In India the commonest underlying causes are diabetes and high blood pressure. Being on dialysis is not required to be assessed; a transplant done before dialysis (pre-emptive) tends to do best. 1 A nephrologist confirms suitability after reviewing your history and tests.
These are published Indian results. We give the numbers and their context together.
Read the numbers with their context. In Indian series, infections — including tuberculosis, CMV and BK virus — are the leading cause of death and graft loss after transplant, more so than the cardiovascular causes that dominate Western data. 1 This is one reason careful follow-up in the first year matters so much.
You must bring your own donor. Under India's Transplantation of Human Organs Act, an international patient can only be transplanted using a related living donor — a close family member — whose relationship is documented and cleared by the hospital's authorisation committee. India does not allow visitors to buy or receive an unrelated organ, and any offer to arrange one should be treated as a warning sign.
Donating a kidney is major surgery on a healthy person, done today by keyhole (laparoscopic) technique at most centres. 5 Large international data put perioperative donor mortality at about 0.03% — roughly one in three thousand — with mostly minor complications. 3 Living with one kidney does slightly raise a donor's long-term risk of kidney problems, though the absolute risk stays low and donors live as long as comparable non-donors. 4
A transplant places one healthy kidney into a person whose own kidneys have failed. The new kidney is usually positioned low in the abdomen and connected to the blood vessels and bladder; the old kidneys are generally left where they are. A single working kidney is enough to take over completely, ending the need for dialysis.
A transplant is not a cure — it is a treatment that has to be protected with daily medication — but it consistently offers longer life and better quality of life than remaining on long-term dialysis, and the benefit is greatest when a living donor allows the surgery to happen early, ideally before dialysis begins. 1
The main risks come from rejection and from the medication that prevents it. These are what a consultant discusses at consent.
The donor requirement and the compatibility testing are the parts to plan for early.
Only hospitals with a licensed transplant programme and an authorisation committee can perform this. These are the accredited centres in our network.
Mumbai
Gurgaon
Delhi
Senior Consultant & Director
Marengo Asia Hospitals
Director & Head
Paras Hospital, Gurgaon
Director & HOD
Consultant
Fortis Hospital, Bangalore
Principal Director
Fortis Escorts Hospital, New Delhi
As an international patient, no — Indian law allows a transplant only from a documented related living donor whom you bring. Anyone offering to arrange an unrelated organ is acting outside the law.
It is generally safe: perioperative mortality is around 0.03% and most donations are done by keyhole surgery. 3,5 There is a small long-term increase in kidney risk, but donors live as long as comparable non-donors. 4
An ABO-incompatible transplant is often still possible with extra preparation; it costs more and takes longer, and your consultant will advise whether it is right for you.
Plan on about 6–8 weeks for both recipient and donor — assessment, surgery and early recovery.
For most suitable patients, yes — it offers longer life and far better quality of life, and the benefit is greatest when done early from a living donor. 1 Your nephrologist will confirm whether it is right for you.
Every clinical claim on this page traces to one of these. Where we could not source a figure from peer-reviewed literature, we have left it out rather than estimate it.
This page is written for patients and their families and is not medical advice. Health Route is a facilitator, not a healthcare provider. Eligibility, donor suitability, the legal process and risk are decisions for a treating consultant and the hospital's authorisation committee.
Kidney Transplantation in India — Past, Present and Future.
Indian Journal of Nephrology. 5-year patient/graft survival 85–90% / 75–80%; 10-year 70–75% / 60–65%; infections and cardiovascular disease commonest causes of death.
Outcomes and Complications of Donor and Recipient of Renal Transplantation.
Indian Journal of Transplantation, 2024. 2-year and 5-year graft survival 90.2% and 84.8%.
Living Donor Nephrectomy — Quantifying the Risk for the Donor.
International surveys and OPTN/UNOS data: perioperative donor mortality ~0.02–0.04% (Segev et al., 25 deaths in 80,347 donors = 0.03%).
Long-term outcomes and ESRD risk in living kidney donors.
J Am Soc Nephrol, 2015 and related reviews. Small absolute increase in lifetime kidney-failure risk versus healthy non-donors; overall life expectancy not reduced.
Current trends in kidney transplantation in India.
PMC4970385. Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy now standard; underscores the need for long-term donor follow-up in India.
A transplant consultant reads them and writes back after the treating team completes its review with whether you are a candidate, whether your donor is likely to match, and an itemised price. No charge, and no obligation to travel.