As part of its expansion plans, Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd (WHL) is planning to open 4 new super speciality hospitals in the next three years and investment for the purpose and other expansions is estimated at around Rs. 400 crore.
With an aim to clear its entire debt, the company recently sold its 10 hospitals (including two under construction) with total 1,902 beds to Fortis Healthcare for Rs. 909 crore. Now, WHL is again in expansion mode.
Presently, the company has 10 super speciality hospitals with 1,200 inpatient beds.
“We are planning to open four new hospitals in the next three years. These four new hospitals, which will be located in Mumbai, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Patana, will have combined capacity of 1,000 inpatient beds and will cover a built-up area of around 10 lakh sq ft. The company’s investment for these four proposed hospitals and other expansions in the next three years will be close to Rs. 400 crore,” Anil V Kamath, Managing Director, Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd, told Business Standard.
“Some part of the fund we raised through sale of our 10 hospitals was used to clear the company’s debt, while the balance will be used for expansion,” Kamath said, but avoided to divulge more details in this regard.
The company’s proposed superspeciality hospital in Mumbai will cover a built-up area of 2.5 lakh sqft, Bhopal 4 lakh sq ft, Jabalpur 1.5 lakh sqft and Patana will cover 1.5 lakh sq ft built-up area.
“We are planning to have total 3,500 beds by the year 2013, from the present 1,200 beds. We are expecting to add around 700 to 1,000 beds a year,” Kamath added.
