Apollo to invest Rs 1,000 crore in UAE

Dubai, Oct 30: The Apollo group plans to set up 11 superspecialty hospitals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), taking its investment in the Gulf country to Rs 1,000 crores, Apollo chairman Pratap C Reddy has said.

"Apollo Group, which now runs 19 superspecialty or multidisciplinary hospitals in India, is in the process of setting up 11 more such ventures in the country by the end of next year raising its total investment to Rs 1,000 crore," Mr Reddy said after signing up with a Dubai hospital group.

Apollo is the second prominent Indian group after Taj Hotels to make a visible presence here of Indian management and expertise in a core services sector.

The Dubai venture is Apollo’s first international management tie-up.
"The 60-bed hospital, at the cost of dirham 100 million (Rs 120 crore), will draw from the vast talent pool of the group to bring to the UAE advanced cardiac surgery procedure, neurocare, orthopedic procedures and trauma care in addition to the general facilities, maternity and childcare," he said.

"Now we manage one third of Apollo hospitals and by the end of the next phase of our expansion, we will be managing two thirds and owning the rest," he said.

The hospital, owned by Dubai’s Belhoul Hospitals, will be formally operational on January 26 next year. Apollo, in association with another Dubai-group opened a state-of-the-art heart scan
and medical center at a cost of dh 15 million (Rs 18 crore)
in 1999.

— PTI