The Escorts group has decided to follow the "managed healthcare" model for setting up cardiac facilities in various cities.
The group is looking at entering into alliances with hospitals and medical centres for setting up and managing their cardiac facilities.
In most cases, the ownership of the cardiac unit will continue to be with the promoter of the hospital or medical centre but Escorts will have complete control over its management and functioning.
More From This Section
Only recently, Escorts entered into an agreement with Goyal Hospital in Jodhpur and Noida Medical Centre for setting up a complete cardiac care centre in both the hospitals.
"We will continue to look out for more such propositions," Shriram Khattar, head of strategic planning and corporate affairs, Escorts, said.
This is in addition to the Rs 150-200 crore that the group intends to invest on the expansion of its greenfield projects in Faridabad, Amritsar, Delhi and Jaipur.
The group is working on two basic managed healthcare models: either to set up a full-fledged cardiac unit which will have a cath lab and an operation theater along with other facilities or a smaller heart command centre where only non-invasive procedures will take place.
"It makes great business sense for us to expand in this way," said Khattar. "Most hospitals have the required infrastructure and set-up but lack the core competency or skill set for running a full-fledged cardiac centre. It will be a win-win situation for both and the easiest way of brining the excellence of our cardiac care to a much larger footprint," he said.
While Escorts will initially focus only on cardiology, it also intends to diversify into other areas through its managed healthcare model.
Escorts has already set up a heart command centre at Bhardwaj hospital in Noida and Indian Spinal Injuries Institute in New Delhi and another one at Kamayani Hospital in Agra is under completion. The group has also set acquired a majority stake of 76 per cent in setting up a cardiac centre in Kanpur in collaboration with a local cardiologist.
The investment varies from one project to another depending upon the standard, size and state of the facility. "While in some cases, Escorts will invest and will have a majority stake, in other cases it will only run the show," he said.
If the basic infrastructure is in place, it would cost around Rs 1-2 crore for setting up a heart command centre alone, around Rs 3-4 crore for a heart command centre and cath lab and Rs 6-8 crore for the complete cardiac centre with an operation theatre.