Apollo to add 725 beds in Tier-2 cities

As part of Apollo Reach, a plan to expand footprint in tier-II and tier-III cites, Apollo Hospitals would increase the number of beds to 725 in the next three years, and would invest around Rs 270 crore.

A senior Apollo executive said the company's pipeline of new Reach hospitals include around four hospitals with around 100-200 beds in Nashik, Nellore, Trichy and Ayanambakkam in the suburbs of Chennai. It has around 600 beds already operational through five small-sized hospitals in tier-II cities.

The initiative is part of the company's plans to penetrate the tier-II cities with standardised healthcare service delivery. The investment of Rs 270 crore would come from internal accruals and debt, the executive said, on condition of anonymity.

It has started construction work on a 150-200 bed hospital in Nellore in Andhra Pradesh through a subsidiary, Pinakini Hospitals Ltd. The hospital, with a project cost of around Rs 65 crore, would be ready in two years.

At present, Apollo runs hospitals in tier-II cities such as Kakinada, Karaikudi, Karimnagar, Bhubaneswar and Karur, under the Reach initiative, according to its annual report.

The proposed addition of 725 beds under Reach initiative is a part of its target to add 2,400 beds to the existing bed capacity spread over 54 hospitals by March 2014.

The group operates with bed strength of 8,700 in 54 hospitals, along with 62 clinics and a chain of Apollo Pharmacies. The company has reported revenue of around Rs 1,929 crore from hospitals business.