Apollo hospital in city

The Apollo Hospitals Group plans to step up its presence in Bangalore by setting up a super-specialty hospital. The healthcare major which currently has a presence in the city through a franchisee, Sagar Apollo, has outlined plans to enter directly through its own management within the next two years.

Speaking to Business Standard, Shobana Kamineni, director, Apollo Hospitals, said: "Our presence in Bangalore is increasing. Our franchisee operation is doing pretty well and our pharmacies and clinics are being accepted across the city.

The only missing link in our ecosystem in Bangalore is the presence of a super-specialty hospital. We are working out plans for the entry and this should happen within the next couple of years." She added that the investment to set up a super-specialty hospital will be a minimum of Rs 150 crore.

The healthcare scene in Bangalore has been booming with a string of hospital chains increasing their presence. This has been backed by the Karnataka government's initiative in healthcare tourism.

On similar lines, Wockhardt is also setting up its super-specialty hospital which will deal with cardiology, neurology, orthopaedics besides a separate department for women and infants which should be functional by January 2006.

Added Kamineni: "Bangalore is a not a place where we want to be absent from. Our presence across India and overseas has been growing and we will definitely see to it that we are present in Bangalore directly to enhance our offerings."

The group which started its operations in 1983 with a 150-bed hospital at Chennai, presently has a network of 37 hospitals and manages over 6,200 beds in India and abroad.

The move to expand in Bangalore is part of the overall strategy of the group which is planning and executing a five-fold increase over the next three years. The current overall asset value of the Apollo Hospital has crossed the $50 million mark.

Kamineni declined to further detail the plans and the funding pattern for the expansion. The company recently raised Rs 51.2 crore by offering its 5 per cent stake to Temasek. The company for the first quarter of this year reported a net profit of Rs 10.5 crore on a turnover of Rs 135 crore.