Apollo Hospitals in expansion mode; to invest Rs 1,400-crore

Healthcare group Apollo Hospitals has plans to invest Rs 1,400 crore over the next couple of years for expansion, a top company official said here on Monday.

Moreover, the company is all set to come up with the modern Proton therapy at its Chennai facility for the treatment of cancer patients in near future.

"We have lined up an investment of Rs 1,400 crore over next couple of years and the investment would be made in the opening of new hospitals and expansion of already existing healthcare centres," Apollo Hospitals Chairman Prathap C Reddy told reporters here.

He was speaking at the inauguration of a super-speciality tertiary care hospital by the group at Navi Mumbai.

"We are looking at having our own hospital at Guwahati in North-East and we have already acquired land in Jaipur for the setting of a hospital in future," he said.

Talking about the forthcoming Proton therapy at its Chennai facility, he said, "work has already begun on the setting up of the Proton therapy at the group's Chennai facility and we hope that it would become operational over next one-and-half years' time."

"Currently this facility was available only in two countries like China and Japan and India will become the third country to have this facility for treatment of cancer patients," Apollo Hospital's managing director Suneeta Reddy said.

"We are also looking at adding oncology facility at the group's already existing hospitals at places like Vizag and Bhubaneshwar," she added.