'We'll have two more hospitals in a few weeks'

Q&A: Shivinder M Singh

Shivinder M Singh

Shivinder M Singh is a scion of Ranbaxy's promoter family along with brother Malvinder. Having recently taken charge as the group managing director at Fortis Healthcare, promoted by the family, Singh diagnosed his vision for Business Standard. Excerpts:

What has changed since you took over as the group managing director?

Should something change? (laughs) There is no significant change since, for the past two years, I have been the executive head. Having said that, however, there have been a lot of changes in the way you operate. Earlier as joint managing director, I was operating as the chief operating officer in terms of running it and that's the stuff I like doing. I am now trying to downstream the day-to-day operations and looking at stuff beyond that.

Has the corporate structure changed?

We have created a separate business unit in projects and consultancies, which was earlier a division. The projects division, too, has been hived off into a strategic business unit (SBU) that works with Fortis Healthcare as a supplier. Fortis now has a CEO who looks after the day-to-day operations of the hospitals, growth opportunities and other support functions. You give me a hospital project and I give you back a product. We can do this for other people, too. For instance, say, it has a capacity to handle eight hospital projects out of which six are Fortis hospitals. Then it can pick up two from other people. The idea is to go out and be able to tap the market for such projects.

What are the other opportunities that Fortis is looking at?

We see a lot of scope in commercial services within hospitals "" providing support services to patients and care givers through cafes, banks, pharmacies and so on. Hospital pharmacies are typically neglected because the head of every hospital looks at every other function, too. We are considering a separate cell for pharmacies. These neglected pharmacies can be taken over and with focused time, energy and management, the footfalls can increase as much as six-fold.

What about the Rs 1,000-crore healthcare complex (Medicity) in Gurgaon?

It's another vertical that will eventually get added to our hospital business. The Medicity sits on several pegs "" a large modern hospital with 500-600 beds that can expand as required, clinical research (facility) and an academic institution in the form of a medical college. We have acquired 75 acres at two plots in Gurgaon for the project.

Are you planning to tie-up with Dr Naresh Trehan, who is building his own Medicity in Gurgaon?

We are talking to him. The projects are very similar. The idea is to create one consolidated organisation.

But what if the tie-up doesn't work?

Part of life.... [we will] carry on.

What is your long-term vision?

Fortis is going to be an internationally-recognised healthcare-focused player. By end-2010, Fortis should be a national player.

Where will be the next Fortis hospital?

Our aim is to roll out two hospitals in the next few weeks. One would be in Vasant Kunj (Delhi) and the second in Srinagar. Terrorism should not keep healthcare away.

How will you fund the expansion?

See, the way we have managed so far is that most of the capital was coming from our private kitty. We were looking to reach a critical mass that we believe we have reached. Now we are debating whether it would be through public listing or private placement. As a group, we prefer the public route. That's something we are more comfortable with.

Having joined the Ranbaxy board recently, are you looking for a bigger role in the company?

I am a director on Ranbaxy's board and that's what my role is. On the other hand, Malvinder's role is more of like life blood for Fortis "" as a promoter and as a director. We have a strong and focused management team in Fortis of which Malvinder is a part. He gives Fortis substance in terms of strategy, perspective and growth.

Do you feel envious of Malvinder, who is more in the limelight?

Oh no! He is running around like a busy bee. I don't like traveling and his is in a traveling job. I'm a hands-on guy and I like to have my own little thing that I can do. I clearly didn't want to be in pharma. When I see Malvinder, I feel so sorry for him. I won't trade Fortis for anything.

How do you look back at the acquisition of Escorts Heart Institute?

It was an opportunity worth grabbing and was a value addition in every sense. As for the legal issues, we did due diligence and found it to be a clean asset. We were made aware of the troubles and we said we'll ride it. We were told by some people that we paid too much. But I think we got a steal.