Apollo Hospitals plans Rs 2k-cr expansion

Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd is planning to invest around Rs 2,000 crore to add 2,500 beds between 2013 and 2015. Currently it is in the process of adding around 1,500 beds with an outlay of around Rs 2,000 crore and gearing up for the next round.

The additional capacity addition would be taken up after the current expansion. Apollo Hospitals is one of the largest networks in Asia with 5,908 owned and 2,038 managed beds across 36 owned and 13 managed hospitals as on June 30. In 2011-12, the bed occupancy ratio was at 71.2 per cent. The average revenue per occupied bed increased to Rs 20,455 in 2011-12.

“We are on track to add 1,500 beds, of which 500 beds already been added. We are now working on the next phase of expansion plan, which is for 2013-14 and 2014-15. The plan is to add 2500 beds,” Prathap C Reddy, chairman, told Business Standard.

The hospital chain is planning to give major thrust on tier-II and tier-III cities to fuel growth and also on automation as part of expansion. Apollo will add another six robots with an investment of around $1.5 million across its hospital chain network, said Reddy.