Fortis investing Rs2,500 crore to expand network, double capacity

08 April 2009

Fortis Healthcare Ltd will invest around Rs2,500 crore ($500 million) to expand its network to 40 hospitals and almost double its capacity to 6,000 beds by 2012, despite the economic slowdown.

Fortis Healthcare, the second-largest healthcare provider in the country after Apollo Hospitals, also announced the launch of Fortis Hospital Seshadripuram (formerly Apollo RM Hospital) in Bangalore as part of its plan to expand its footprint in the south and the west.

Fortis Healthcare group, which is awaiting SEBI approval for a Rs1,000-crore rights issue, is actively looking at acquisitions, according to Shivinder Mohan Singh, managing director of the company.

We plan to have a cluster of hospitals in Bangalore. Fortis has now a 66-per cent stake in the Bangalore hospital. The group will look at acquisitions, private-public partnerships and greenfield projects to expand the existing 27 hospital network,'' Singh said.

Last year, Fortis acquired 48.83 per cent stake in Chenni-based Malar Hospital.

Fortis is following a strategy of investing in hospital ventures of industry groups where healtcare is not the core business, Singh pointed out. ''These are cases of collateral damage, where the parent group would rather sell their hospital and invest the money in their core business,'' he added.