Aster DM Healthcare to invest ₹750 crore to add 1,500 beds by 2022

Healthcare services provider Aster DM Healthcare will invest around ₹750 crore to add 1,500 beds in four new hospitals that it plans to open by the end of March 2022, a top company official said. The company currently has around 4,400 beds across 12 hospitals in India.

“We will be investing around ₹750 crore to add 1,500 beds in the four hospitals we will be opening in India by the end of March, 2022,” Aster DM Healthcare founder Chairman and MD Azad Moopen told PTI. The new multi-speciality hospitals will come up at Bengaluru, Chennai, Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram, he added. “We will also be investing ₹250 crore for the expansion of our existing facilities and for purchase of equipment,” Moopen said.

When asked how the company plans to fund the expansion, he said, “It will be through a mix of internal accruals and debt”. The company which has a strong presence in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries across hospitals, clinics and pharmacy verticals also plans to open pathology labs and pharmacies in India.

Highlighting the company’s roadmap for future growth, Moopen said, “It will be mainly through an asset light model. We will also be opening pathology labs and pharmacies going forward.” Regarding hospitals, the company will continue to focus on opening fairly large multi-speciality hospitals with over 300 beds in metros and large cities, he added. Aster DM Healthcare currently has 22 hospitals, 113 clinics and 220 pharmacies in nine countries.