Apollo Group to open 250-bed hospital in Visakhapatnam.

The Apollo Group has set up a new hospital in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh with an investment of ₹150 crore.

The multi-speciality hospital with 250 beds will be formally inaugurated on April 30, K Hari Prasad, president, Apollo Hospitals Group, told BusinessLine here.

Apollo is also in the process of setting up a mega health city in Chittoor district. 'It is the native district of our Chairman Prathap Reddy and we plan to invest significantly,' he said, adding that modalities such as location and exact investment were being worked out. The proposed city will have all facilities including education, research and healthcare.

'After the bifurcation of the State, we see cities such as Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada emerging as major healthcare hubs. The State is a focus market for us and we are keen to expand further', he said.

In the united Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad was the main hub of advanced healthcare with many corporate hospitals, including Apollo, investing heavily in major facilities, he said.

However, post bifurcation, there has been a gradual shift with people from Andhra Pradesh preferring to visit Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada as healthcare destinations instead of Hyderabad. Though exact numbers are not available yet, industry experts noticed a decrease in the number of patients from Andhra Pradesh visiting Hyderabad for treatment, in the last two years. There has also been growing interest from private equity investors in Andhra Pradesh, he added.

The healthcare major is also evaluating various options to expand to Amaravati, the new capital of the State. “We are in the preliminary stage of our strategy.”

On the state of the healthcare industry in Hyderabad, Hari Prasad said there was significant addition of capacity in Hyderabad in the recent past. “We have to wait and see how this is going to be utilised going forward.”

HBL