Healthcare major Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Limited (AHEL) will be raising $50 million (around Rs 250 crore) from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to fund its pet ‘Reach Hospitals’ project, which is estimated to cost Rs 1,000 crore in the first phase.
Reach Hospitals are aimed at serving poor and needy in the tier-II and tier-III cities across the country at an affordable cost, while meeting part of the Union government’s efforts to provide quality healthcare for people living in semi-urban and rural areas. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched the project for setting up such hospitals way back in the first week of September 2008.
Apollo Reach Hospitals has been especially designed for less developed population centres and are smaller, simpler and offer exhaustive service offerings like Apollo’s existing facilities, deliver similar quality care costing less overall to the patient.
As part of its decision to set up 25 such hospitals in the first phase with an estimated investment of Rs 1,000 crore, the company has already launched three hospitals at Karimnagar, Kakinada and Karur. More such hospitals will be established initially in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and will be taken up in other states in the second phase. Towards this, IFC is expected to invest $50 million and the company hopes to conclude the deal soon, said sources. It is also expected that part of the funds will be utilised for other expansion and new projects, the sources added. IFC, as of March 31, 2009, is holding little over 1% in AHEL.
Towards this initiative, AHEL had floated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Apollo Reach Hospitals, and has finalised plans to set up 25 such hospitals in the first phase. Each Reach Hospital will have a bed size ranging between 100 and 150 and is expected to be completed within 24 months.