Apollo Hospitals Planning Buyouts To Boost North India Footprint

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd., India's largest health care provider by number of beds, is scouting for acquisitions to capitalize on a surge in demand for high-end medical care in the world's most-populous nation, its top executive said.

The Chennai-based company is looking to grow across India's urban centers through acquisitions as well as starting projects from ground-up in northern India as well as in the state of Karnataka, and cities such as Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, its Managing Director Suneeta Reddy said in an interview this week.

“There is a huge requirement for additional beds,” she said, estimating the current shortage at around 100,000. Apollo will add about 3,500 beds over three to four years, with focus mainly on India's northern region, where Reddy said the company is looking for “market leadership in key cities.”

A growing cohort of wealthy Indians are stoking the demand for quality health care and wellness products and that's luring many investors. Apollo Hospitals, which had around 8,000 beds as of Dec. 31, is looking to protect its pole position as heavyweights from Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. to Adani Group plow into the sector.

Investors have poured in nearly $15 billion into the local health care assets since 2022, according to a report by Grant Thornton and Association of Healthcare Providers (India).

Apollo is also planning to build a $29 million cancer center, and sees oncology, cardiac, neurology and preventive health care as key pillars of growth, Reddy said.

The firm expects its digital health and pharmacy business to expand 20% year-on-year with the new insurance product also supporting growth.