Ludhiana, Sept. 11 -- A 12-month waiting list and a bill running into more than Rs.20 lakh prompted a 60-year-old Australian woman to look beyond her home country for an arm-lift surgery. Her search eventually brought her to Ludhiana, where she underwent the procedure for around Rs.5 lakh, including her stay and food.

Annie, a truck driver at a coal mine in Brisbane, arrived in Ludhiana with her husband David 10 days ago for the procedure. The surgery was performed at a private hospital a week ago, while the couple's stay at a city hotel was included in the treatment package. The cost was a fraction of what Annie would have incurred in Australia, where she said the procedure would have cost more than 30,000 Australian dollars, or over Rs...