Dr Basu Eye Hospital plans to open five new hospitals in India in 5 years

Dr Basu Eye Hospital and Jagat Pharma, an Ayurvedic eye care provider, have announced plans to expand their reach by opening five new hospitals over the next five years. Currently operating two hospitals in Delhi and Bareilly, this expansion aims to make their specialised eye care more accessible to patients across metro cities, with Maharashtra and Bangalore being the initial targets.

The hospital’s treatments are based on a combination of traditional Ayurvedic medicine and modern diagnostics. They claim that their treatment can cure a variety of eye diseases, including cataracts (if the maturity is up to 70 per cent), diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and macular degeneration.

Speaking on this, Dr Mandeep Singh Basu, founder of Dr Basu Eye Hospital and Jagat Pharma, stated, “We will be funding the expansion ourselves, without needing investors as the cost for opening a new hospital is not that high because we purchase our own machinery. Typically, it costs around 50 lakh rupees for the total machinery required for diagnosis with the infrastructure cost being approximately up to 20 to 25 lakh rupees. So, overall, it costs around one crore rupees to open a hospital. Since we are not performing any surgeries, our hospital is not large-scale. We focus primarily on optometry (OPT), where patients can come in for diagnosis, receive treatment, and then leave. Therefore, the cost is within that range.”

The hospital claims that the costs of their treatments are significantly lower compared to traditional surgeries and modern medical treatments. For instance, while cataract surgeries typically cost between 50,000 to 1 lakh rupees, Dr Basu Eye Hospital offers a 5 to 6-month treatment plan for only 20 to 25,000 rupees, without the need for surgery given the maturity of the disease is up to 70 per cent.

Speaking on their future plans, Basu added, “Our hospitals have treated a significant number of patients over the past years, with around 80 to 90 patients visiting daily. Our expansion plans also include growing the hospital’s international presence as our treatments have already garnered interest from patients abroad, and the hospital is currently exporting its products to a handful of countries. The Middle East is a particular target market due to the high number of patients seeking treatment there.”

Dr Basu also revealed that they treat rare conditions like colour blindness, where conventional medicine offers no cure. Through their Ayurvedic treatments, they claim to have helped patients regain their vision and pursue careers that were once out of reach.

In addition to opening new branches, Dr Basu’s hospital is also focusing on increasing its online presence. Recognising the growing popularity of e-commerce, the hospital plans to launch new products and make its existing treatments available for purchase online. They believe that this will make it easier for patients across the globe to access their brand of Ayurvedic eye care.