Jaypee to enter health care

The Jaypee Hospital in Noida is spread over a 25-acre campus, of which 18 acres are being used

Infrastructure company Jaypee Group, with presence in power, cement, real estate, hospitality, roads, fertilisers and education sectors, is set to enter the health care sector. Early next month, the company will commission its newly-built 500-bed Jaypee Hospital in Noida, making its foray into the $74-billion sector growing at an annual rate of 15 per cent.

"There is a shortage of quality health care services and we have an intention to do good work. I am hopeful the mix of demand and intention will work," said Jaiprakash Gaur, the 84-year-old founder chairman of Jaypee Group and Jaiprakash Associates.

Gaur believes the health care sector is set for rapid growth. The group has invested Rs 500 crore in building the hospital and getting in advanced technology and equipment during the first phase. This is over and above the investment made in acquiring the land.

The Jaypee Hospital is on 25 acres, of which 18 acres are being used. In the second phase, the company plans to invest another Rs 2,000 crore to further expand the facility to over 1,200 beds in the next four-to-five years, Gaur said. The hospital business will be primarily funded through the Group's trust, Jaypee Seva Sansthan, which Gaur said will also cater to the underprivileged.

Gaur's other venture, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd, divested assets worth Rs 15,000 crore last year to cut debt. Reports suggest the company intends to sell more assets of around Rs 10,000 crore in 2014-15.

When asked, Gaur said if there is a need, the company might sell assets. "We have created huge assets and if we maintain even some of it, it will be platinum for us," he said.

The group, however, plans to focus in a major way on health care. While the high-end tertiary-care hospital in Noida will be a commercial venture, the company has also underlined plans for expansion in the health care venture.

Apart from spreading out its hospital in Noida, the group looks to commission at least two more hospitals, each in Sahibabad and Bulandshahr, in the next one year. It has also already acquired land in Agra, Kanpur, and Rewa for further expansion. These hospitals are expected to be ready in three years.

However, Gaur insists the Group will build its own hospitals instead of going the acquisition way, as is followed by most corporate players.

According to Vikram Singh, CEO of the Jaypee Group's healthcare venture, the Noida hospital will focus on five verticals - oncology, solid organ transplant, cardiovascular diseases, mother and child care, and trauma care. "We are looking for this unit to cater to 3,000 bypass surgeries in a year. Heart is a very big programme and we have put up four catheterisation laboratories including the first most advanced hybrid one, which has cath lab and operation theatre together," explained Singh, adding the hospital has so far spent Rs 150 crore on equipment alone.

At a time when most hospitals are struggling for specialist doctors and para-medical staff, Gaur is confident that Jaypee Hospital will attract the best of talent not only from within India but also from abroad. At the moment, the hospital has 50 senior doctors on board. It plans to get another 250 by the end of this year.

Apart from providing healthcare services, the hospital plans to take up research, do clinical trials and get to academic work going forward, Singh said.

So far, the group has set up small healthcare facilities to facilitate its projects in rural areas and in the interiors of the country. For instance, the company currently runs around 40 dispensaries in areas adjoining to its projects to support its staff as well as the locals. It also runs a 25- and 200-bedded hospital in Rewa (Madhya Pradesh) and Palampur (Gujarat), respectively, to support its projects in the locality.

The Noida hospital project, which was supposed to be launched last year, faced a slight setback because of delay in government clearances.