East India on Apollo's expansion radar

Chennai-based Apollo Hospital plans to invest Rs 100 crore in building hospitals, day care centres and pharmacies in the eastern region by the end of fiscal 2007.

This is apart from the 15 acres sought by the group from the West Bengal
government for a tertiary health-care-cum-training-centre in Rajarhat.

The hospitals, each of which will have nearly 100 beds, will come
up in Siliguri, Durgapur, Burdhaman and Dhanbad.

The group is planning tie-ups with small and medium-sized local hospitals
for the facilities, which will be expanded in a phased manner. The total
investment earmarked for the purpose is around Rs 60 crore.

The group also plans to expand its pharmacy chain by adding around 650 retail outlets to the existing 350-chain.