Apollo Healthcare to become billion-dollar entity by 2011-12

Medical services provider Apollo Healthcare expects to become a billion-dollar entity in the next two-three years thus becoming the first private healthcare chain to cross the milestone.

"Apollo is already a leading healthcare provider in the country and in the next three years time or by 2011-12 fiscal we are targeting a turnover of more than one billion dollars annually," Apollo Group of Hospitals Chairman Prathap C Reddy told PTI.

The company is backing on overseas patients for the growth and has recently tied up with US health insurance solutions provider Wellpoint for treating overseas patients.

"Wellpoint and Apollo Hospitals are set to start a pilot project next month to treat the US insurers members in Apollo's hospitals in Bangalore, which was approved by the Joint Commission International (JCI), the US-based hospital certifying agency," Reddy said.

Foreign patients currently accounts for around 17 per cent of the total patients in Apollo and they contribute around 28 per cent of the total turnover of the group.

"With our tie-up with Wellpoint, we are expecting a boost in the number of overseas patients and soon 25 per cent of our total patients would be from other countries contributing around 40 per cent in our total income," Reddy said.

It has clocked a turnover of Rs 1,240 crore in the last fiscal and is expecting a growth of around 30 per cent in the current fiscal. It has also announced an investment of Rs 1,000 crore in the next two years for expansions.

Apollo today also celebrates completion of 10 years of the 1st lever transplantation operation performed in India.

With 10,000 beds across 43 hospitals in India and abroad Apollo is one of the largest healthcare chains in the world.