DLF to join hands with Fortis in 26:74 JV

LF, which is shortly entering the capital markets, is on the verge of inking a 26:74 joint venture with Fortis Healthcare for setting up hospitals in its 200-acre-plus integrated townships across the country, at an investment of around Rs 6,000 crore.

"We are looking at establishing 250-400 bed hospitals in these townships. Since we are also looking at some large hospitals with around 400 beds, the average investment per hospital will be Rs 200-225 crore," said Shivinder Singh, managing director, Fortis Healthcare.

Sources close to DLF said the proposed joint venture company was looking to set up 31 hospitals in cities such as Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur and Kolkata.

DLF had disclosed, in its red herring prospectus, that the 250-400 bed hospitals would have a minimum built-up area of 20,000 square metres (or 2.15 lakh square feet). The proposed joint venture with Fortis is likely to be christened as Fortis Specialty Hospitals.

According to the proposed joint venture, DLF will provide the land and oversee the construction of the proposed hospitals. The healthcare company will operate and manage the hospitals under the Fortis banner.

Earlier this week, DLF chairman and promoter, K P Singh had said the company would look at new business areas such as hospital properties, airport management and financial services.

"We want to maximise amenities in our integrated townships. Hospitals, schools and big box retail formats are obvious steps in this direction," K P Singh added.

The joint venture will allow Fortis Healthcare to establish a pan-India footprint. The latter currently has 12 hospitals, out of which seven are under the Fortis banner, four under Escorts and one standalone called Jessa Ram.

These are primarily concentrated in the National Capital Region. Only five of the hospitals are outside the NCR region, in Mohali, Srinagar, Amritsar and Mohali.