Although situated well outside of Asia-Pacific, India is too large and important a country not to be included in an overview of the major forces in cosmetic plastic surgery on the Asian continent. While its population is on track to surpass that of China in the near future, the Indian plastic surgery industry remains relatively underdeveloped with less than half as many certified plastic surgeons (about 2,000) as in China.

Currently, the number of cosmetic surgical procedures performed yearly is close to 700,000, placing the country in fourth place behind the United States, Brazil, and China. India surpasses Japan and South Korea in total surgical procedures by more than 50%.

Adjusted for population the per capita rate of plastic surgery in India is much lower than in East or Southeast Asia. People in South Korea undergo cosmetic surgery at a rate 12 times higher than in India, in Taiwan 7 times higher, in Japan 5 times higher, in Thailand twice as high, and in China at a rate 1.5 times as frequent.

As one of the world's fastest growing major economies, however, all that is set to change. While poverty is still widespread, India's middle class population will increase to more than half a billion people by 2030.

The most popular plastic surgery procedures are, predictably, similar to those in all other countries worldwide: breast surgery and liposuction. Because of relative orbital fat shortage, the procedure offering the most unique cosmetic challenge on the Indian face is eyelid surgery.

Much of what appears in this Section applies in good part to the other main populations of what is often called the Indian subcontinent or South Asia.