Max to invest Rs 5,000 crore to ramp up bed capacity to 8,000

Max Healthcare Institute Ltd will invest over Rs 5,000 crore to more than double its bed capacity to over 8,000 beds in the next four to five years, according to its Chairman and MD Abhay Soi. He further said that half of the investment is to be made in Uttar Pradesh.

The company, which had last year acquired Sahara Hospital in Lucknow for an enterprise value of Rs 940 crore has renamed it as Max Super Specialty Hospital, Lucknow.

It plans to invest Rs 2,500 crore in Uttar Pradesh which includes setting up of a new 500 beds hospital on 5.6-acre parcel of land located at Shaheed Path and augmentation of capacity of the acquired facility.

The healthcare major expects to create over 10,000 jobs through its two facilities in the state.

“For the development of any economy it is a prerequisite that healthcare also develops over there… We wanted to participate in the development of the state,”Soi told PTI.

He further said, “Given the development which is happening (in the state) and the increase in per capita income, it calls for much larger investment in healthcare.”

On the immediate expansion in UP, he said at Max Super Specialty Hospital, Lucknow, which is a 550-bed hospital, the company is ‘looking at expanding by another 300-odd beds going forward’.

“Other than this we have acquired land for a greenfield hospital at Shaheed Path for another 500 beds. Between these, we will have over 2,000 beds in the next few years… This would be at an investment of Rs 2,500 crore and we will be employing more than 10,000 people.”

With this, Max Healthcare will be the largest private healthcare network in UP, he asserted.

When asked if Max Healthcare Institute will be focussing only on UP for its expansion in the near future, he replied in the negative.

“We would look at other states too for expansion… We will be in multiple places as well,” Soi said, citing examples of how the company has expanded in Nagpur and Pune, and is also looking at other parts of the country.

On investments on overall expansion across India, he said it will be over Rs 5,000 crore in the next four to five years to more than double the bed capacity to over 8,000 beds.

When asked if the company would go for acquisitions only or set up new facilities for the planned expansions, Soi said, “It will be both. Where we can do acquisitions we would like to do acquisitions… we have seen in Lucknow itself, we have done one acquisition and the other is a greenfield. If we get another, we’d be happy to do it.”

On the funding of the expansion in UP, he said it will be through internal accruals. “We are a debt-free company and we generate enough internal accruals to fund it,” Soi said.

Max Healthcare said it will introduce state-of-the-art cancer care and robotic surgical systems besides strengthening the organ transplantation program at Max Super Specialty Hospital, Lucknow.

It will bring in high-end tertiary and quaternary care to patients in Lucknow and neighboring areas and the hospital will serve as an important referral centre for patients from Eastern and Central Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

“With direct flight connectivity to several countries, the company will also explore attracting medical value travel patients from neighbouring countries and the Middle East to Max Super Specialty Hospital, Lucknow,” the company added. PTI