IHH Healthcare, the Singapore-Malaysia-based hospital group that operates a chain of hospitals under Fortis and Gleneagles (erstwhile Global Hospitals) brands in India, is planning to double its bed capacity here to 10,000 beds in next 4-5 years through both brownfield expansion and acquisitions. IHH Healthcare has around 5,000 bed capacity in India under Fortis and Gleneagles and plans to add 2,000 beds through brownfield expansion, and another 3,000 beds through possible acquisition opportunities. Prem Kumar Nair, group CEO of IHH Healthcare, in an interview to ET said the funding is not a constraint.
"We have headroom (for acquisitions)," Nair said. "The brownfield expansion will be done through internal accruals and will immediately improve our operating leverage," he added. Nair added that IHH aspires to be among the top three healthcare providers in India and plans to expand into tier-2 cities beyond metros.
India was the fourth largest market that contributied around 17% of IHH Healthcare Group's revenues of 21.3 billion Malaysian Ringgit (₹42,271 crore) in 2023. Nair said IHH will continue its dual brand strategy in India, operating hospitals under Fortis and Gleneagles, while it integrates the backend operations such as IT and procurement for better efficiencies.
"Fortis will be focusing on the north and Gleneagles on the south to leverage market opportunities," he added. On consolidating operations of Fortis and Gleneagles into single listed entity, Nair said the .