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Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd (AHEL) has said that it has got the Board's approval to invest Rs 2,250 crore over the next three years.
The country's leading hospital chain, which till now focussed mostly on major urban cluster, has now shifted its focus to tier II and III cities and said it has got three-pronged expansion plan.
Meanwhile, Apollo to set up a Proton Therapy Centre in Chennai, which will be the first of its kind in Asia Pacific.
Company sources said the Board has given its approval to invest Rs 2,250 crore over the next three years, primarily related to expansion activities. The investment will be funded through existing funds, incremental debt and internal accruals, according to company's 2012-13 Annual Report.
During the current fiscal alone the hospital chain plans to increase the number of total beds in the Group by 1,000 across seven locations. As of March 31, 2013, Apollo had 8,420 beds in India and overseas across 51 hospitals. Of the total 8,420 beds, 6,382 beds across 38 hospitals are owned by Apollo and 2,038 beds across 13 hospitals are under management through operations and management contracts.
For expansion, the company has chalked out three-pronged expansion strategy, which includes expanding beds and facilities in the existing clusters, set up new hospitals in metros and large cities with no existing presence in order to reach out to a wider urban population and lastly simultaneously expanding in tier II and III cities in India through 'Apollo REACH'.
The ongoing expansion projects include its entry into cities like Mumbai, Patna, Vishakapattnam and Indore as well as strengthening of clusters in Chennai and Bangalore.
As far as REACH Hospitals go, it is planning to increase beds by 500 in fiscal 2014, which includes three REACH hospitals in Tiruchy (Tamil Nadu), Nellore (Andhra Pradesh) and Nasik apart from a mix of Tertiary care and community hospitals. The REACH Hospitals network is of secondary care facilities with around 100-200 beds in tier II and III cities.
Already the REACH hospitals are operating in Tier II cities including Kakinda, Karaikudi, Karimnagar, Bhubaneswar and Karur. Now three more are coming up in Nashik, Nellore and Tiruchy.
Besides setting up new hospitals and expanding the exiting ones, Apollo is planning to set up a Proton Therapy Centre in Chennai. The company claims this will be the first of its kind centre for cancer treatment in the Asia Pacific Region.
This centre would cater to the need of patients in Asia, Africa and Australia which is home to a combined population of over 3.5 billion people.
Apollo in talks with govt to introduce exclusive visa for international patients
Apollo Hospitals moots an idea to introduce a separate visa category for medical purposes.
According to company's Annual Report 2012-13, the Hospital chain has already started the dialogue with the Government of India. This will not only help the hospital chain get more international patients, but other hospitals are also expected to be benefited from this move. The most benefited state would be Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai.
It may be noted, the city receives around 200 foreign patients every day, according to Confederation of Indian Industry estimate. Around 8.5 lakh tourists came to India for treatment in 2011 and in 2012 it went up to 1.1 million. Tamil Nadu witnesses inflow of medical tourists from Middle-east, Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia mostly.
Apollo Hospitals has said that number of international patients coming to its hospital, across the country and mostly in Chennai, is around 70,000 each year.
The legal ramification of permitting doctors with overseas qualification to work on India shores is under consideration, said Apollo.
In order to attract large number of number of medical value travellers, the Hospital has increased its marketing efforts in markets such as AFrica, Middle East and South East Asia.
