The Hindu Business Line : Fortis plans Rs 800-cr retail spend

The group's pharma and health food retail chain, Fortis HealthWorld, currently has 13 stores, but it intends to open 1,000 stores in the next five years. Each store has a diagnostic centre, health foods, health care goods, pharmaceuticals and other FMCG items of daily needs.

Besides, these stores extend services such as prescription reminders, loyalty programmes and free home delivery.

As part of its expansion plans, Fortis HealthWorld has tied up with DCM Hariyali to reach the rural segment. Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar, an arm of DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd, at present has 70 outlets in the North.

"We will leverage the Hariyali outlets to reach out to our target audience in rural areas with value-added services such as 24X7 pharmacy and primary health centre for outpatient treatment," Mr Ashish Kirpal Pandit, CEO, Fortis HealthWorld, told Business Line.

According to him, all these health centres would be networked with the main Fortis hospital in the locality for telemedicine.

Fortis will soon set foot in Rajasthan, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh. "We will open our pilot store in Punjab within the next 45 days," Mr Pandit said.

At present, all these stores are owned and operated by the company. "However, we are now considering the franchisee model for expansion," he said.

The Fortis Group is promoted by the promoters of Ranbaxy Ltd.

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