Apollo plans maternity clinic chain

Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited (AHLL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apollo Hospitals, will open about 15-20 women's health and maternity care centres, titled Cradle, and about 70 clinics in the next two years.

About 2-3 maternity care centres and 8-10 clinics would be wholly owned by AHLL, and the rest would be run through franchisees, said Ratan Jalan, CEO, AHLL. Each of the women's health care centres will require an investment of Rs 12 crore and the clinics Rs 2 crore.

Jalan said, nearly Rs 30 crore could be raised through private placement of equity or debt to meet the expenses in the expansion plan for the next two years. This apart, AHLL is also planning to open day-surgery centres by 2008.

The centres will handle minor surgeries, where patients can be relived from the hospital within a day or two of the operation. In the US, nearly 85 per cent of clinical interventions were through day-surgery centres, informed Jalan. "We are yet to decide upon the business model and investment, but the first such centre is likely to come up by next year," said Jalan.

APLL at present has 54 clinics and two maternity centres at Bangalore and Gurgaon. The third centre is under construction at Kozikode in Kerala.

The new maternity centres will be opened in tier II cities and state capitals.

The existing centres have amenities like maternity wear shop and private suites with home-like ambiance.

The visiting-hours are decided by the patients themselves.

"Today child-birth is a social event, where the whole family participates. We are looking for franchisees who understand this concept and relate to it," said Jalan.

According to a report by McKinsey, the market for maternity care in India is around Rs 6,000 crore, out of which Rs 2,500 crore comes from the affluent class.

By 2012, the market is expected to grow to Rs 11,000 crore, with Rs 6,400 from the high-end segment.