Q1: You have overseas expansion plans. Can you elaborate?
Ans:
>Investment in Cayman Islands is an expansion to the main campus
>To invest $100 mn on oncology-focused day-care surgery centre in Cayman Island campus
>Investing in clinics, diagnostic centres etc in the Caribbean
>Outside of India, the Caribbean is the main focus now
Q2: So, if I am not wrong, you are catering to the local population mostly. But is there any plan to expand the scale there, so that you can tap the entire Caribbean?
Ans:
>Population is small, so the number of services offered is controlled
>Beyond surgeries, want to get into primary care, secondary care, daycare, advanced robotic surgery and oncology
Q3: Is there any North America expansion plan?
Ans:
>Will run out of opportunities to expand in Caribbean islands eventually because it’s a small market
>Plans to expand in North America at some point in the future
>In talks with people, exploring opportunities and ideas. But it’s still very early
Q4: Coming back to your India plans, around Rs 1,000 cr investment is planned for green-field and brown-field in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Raipur. Which will be your focus cities in India? How many beds would you be adding in the next 2-3 years? And, what is your plan to increase your footprint within the country?
Ans:
>Focus areas are Bengaluru and Kolkata
>Desperately need capacity expansion in Bengaluru and Kolkata
>Looking at brownfield investments in existing hospitals in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Delhi and Raipur
>Aims to add one floor, 20 beds, 50 beds, oncology, certain OPD blocks with the investment
> Rs 1,000 cr will be invested for additional campuses to the existing ones in Bengaluru and Kolkata, where space is a constrain
>Expecting to add about 600 to 800 beds in Bengaluru and Kolkata in the next 2-3 years
Q5: Is medical tourism back to pre-pandemic levels now?
Ans:
>Medical tourism hasn’t recovered yet - flight schedules are not frequent, connectivity is still hard, getting visa and RT PCR done continues to be a challenge
>Don’t expect medical tourism volumes to pick up to pre-Covid levels anytime soon
>It doesn’t matter much for Narayana Health because its volumes have bounced back to pre-Covid levels
Q6: Where do you see Narayana Health in the next 5 years?
Ans:
>Sustained pre-Covid level of growth
>Can sustain revenue growth and output growth, because of capacity investment in improving throughput, oncology and high-end surgeries, etc
>Making investments in infrastructure at several hospitals, for the next five years
>For the next two and half years, there will be construction work and disruptions in the facilities
 "How is Viren Shetty taking Narayana Health biz close to US shores?")
