"The idea is to set up tertiary hospitals in tier II and III cities, we plan to set up about 15 hospitals in next 18 months with an investment of about Rs 1,000 crore," Apollo Hospitals Group Chairman Prathap C Reddy told reporters on the sidelines of CII's annual session.
Apollo, which is looking for overseas expansion, is also planning to enter Sri Lanka for a second time, besides expanding its operations in African continents.
"We have written to the Sri Lankan government and this time around, we will have 51 per cent or more stake," said Reddy. Apollo hospitals earlier had operations in Sri Lanka in which they had minority stake and it had to abandon the project following the take-over by the Sri Lankan business tycoon Harry Jayawardene.
On Apollo's plans for Africa, Reddy said that it is looking to have a presence in five African countries including Nigeria, Tanzania, Angola, Ghana and Uganda.