Apollo Hospitals to raise Rs 900 cr for expansion

Apollo Hospitals group will raise Rs 900 crore, including Rs 600 crore from QIPs (Qualified institutional placement) and Rs 300 crore through convertible debt instruments. Part of the proceeds will go to expand the hospital network to 15 tier-II and tier-III cities in the next two years.

“We are going to add 3,000 beds in the next two financial years. We have identified land in some locations such as Nashik in Maharashtra. We have added 1,800 beds in the last two years,” Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman of the hospital chain, told Business Line.

The company has received the nod from the board to raise funds for the expansion plans. Last month, promoters bought back about 2.5 per cent in the equity. At present, the group has 8,400 beds.

The company had written to the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh Governments, seeking relevant permissions to set up medical colleges. “The moment we get the nod we will go to the Medical Council of India for their permission to start the college. At least one of them should happen this year,” he said.

The company, however, would like to focus on growing organically. “We are not against acquiring hospitals. But we do not see any reason why should we go for a buy when there is so much we can do,” he said.

He said that availability of human resources was a major problem in the country. “We have seven lakh doctors, while we actually need 15 lakhs to take care of our needs. While we need 25 lakh nurses against the present eight lakh, we have to train one crore paramedics from the present 25 lakh,” he said.