Apollo joins look-East bandwagon for acquisitions, secures Kolkata facility

Adding to a series of recent acquisitions in East India by health care giants, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (Apollo) has announced its acquisition of a partially constructed hospital in Sonarpur, Kolkata, from Future Oncology Hospital and Research Centre for Rs 102 crore.

The acquisition was completed through Apollo Multispeciality Hospitals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apollo. The hospital, acquired through an asset sale, had a total capacity of 325 beds. This announcement comes shortly after Temasek-backed Manipal Health Enterprises acquired an 84 per cent stake in Emami Group’s AMRI Hospitals for approximately Rs 2,300 crore.

Fortis Healthcare is also considering the acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in Artistery Properties for Rs 32 crore in Kolkata. This property is adjacent to Fortis Hospital at Anandapur and would be used to relocate their daycare and outpatient departments, freeing up space for additional beds in the Fortis Hospital building.

Corporate hospitals have adopted a Look East policy as they perceive this region as underserved.

Manipal Hospitals currently operates close to 2,000 beds in the region and is open to further acquisitions in the East.

Dilip Jose, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer of Manipal Hospitals, says, “15-20 per cent of outpatients at our Airport Road hospital in Bengaluru come from eastern India daily. An entire ecosystem of translators, Bengali food, and accommodation facilities has developed in the vicinity. Historically, people from the East have travelled to the South or North for their treatment.”

He adds that during the pandemic, this patient movement slowed down but has now resumed.

“This convinces one that there is a certain demand for quality care in the eastern part, and this is indeed an underserved market,” he says.

Alok Roy, former chairman of Medica Hospitals, concurs, saying, “Assured quality care is what people are looking for here. That’s why there is room for growth for corporate hospital chains.”

He notes that recent state government schemes covering the cost of treatment for West Bengal citizens have encouraged people to seek treatment locally.

“If 100 people were previously going out of the state for surgeries, now only 60 do so. This further opens up opportunities in the market,” he says.

As for Apollo, it plans to augment its capacity in the East by adding another 700 beds over the next three years, bringing the total bed count for Apollo in the eastern region to 2,500.

The first phase of the hospital acquired by Apollo will include 225 beds built over 175,000 square feet and is scheduled to be commissioned in the next 12 months. It will offer high-end specialties, including comprehensive oncology services with radiotherapy. The acquisition is being fully funded by Apollo through its internal accruals.

Suneeta Reddy, MD of Apollo Hospitals, stated, “For over 20 years, consumers in Kolkata and the Northeast have trusted Apollo as their care provider of choice. The addition of this new facility is part of our planned capacity expansion across the country and will allow us to serve even more people in the region.”

This marks Apollo’s second hospital in Kolkata and the fifth hospital in the eastern region. The chain now boasts over 1,800 beds across Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, and Guwahati.