Apollo Unveils Hospital Model For Ahmedabad

The Chennai-based Apollo Hospitals Group on Saturday unveiled the model for a 350-bed multi-speciality hospital that it is setting up in Bhat village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.

Being built over a sprawling area of 10 acre, at an estimated project cost of Rs 110 crore, the hospital is expected to become operational by April 2002.

Apollo Hospitals Group chairman Prathap C Reddy said that this upcoming project in Ahmedabad is the first initiative of his Group in Gujarat region and would incorporate project expertise of Apollo Hospitals and support services of Larsen & Toubro in civil works.

Emphasising that this would be the first hospital in India to have air ambulance facilities, Reddy said that this project would mark a revolutionary change in the healthcare preparedness of Gujarat and neighbouring states.

The hospital would be developed as a centre for specialised healthcare services and would also impart advanced medical training and healthcare education, he added.

While a total debt to the tune of Rs 56 crore has been tied up with Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) acting as the lead bank, Apollo Group is bringing in Rs 36 crore as equity.

IDBI and ICICI would also be investing Rs 10 crore each in the equity capital of the project, which includes a premium of Rs 5 per share, Reddy revealed.

Asked why he had chosen Ahmedabad to set up this project, he said,