Yash Birla to invest in healthcare sector

Mumbai: Yash Birla Group plans to invest Rs 300 crore in the healthcare sector in the next three years through its Birla Wellness vertical, Group Chairman Yash Birla said.

“We will be investing Rs 300 crore in the next three years to enter the whole spectrum of health and wellness,” he said.

The group had tied up with Apollo three months ago to set up a 200-bedded hospital in Thane, with an investment of Rs 110 crore.

The group announced the setting up of `Evolve’, which would be involved in plastic surgery, implant and cosmetic dentistry, cosmetic dermatology and anti-aging medicine.

The group has tied up with Singapore-based Pacific Healthcare Holdings, whereby both players will invest Rs 28 crore in Evolve in the first year to set up five facilities in Mumbai.

“In the next three years, we plan to make Evolve a pan-India operation with 25 facilities,” Birla said. Last year, Yash Birla Group had commissioned consultancy firm Ernst & Young to do a study on the health and wellness sector. The study had revealed that the sector involves Rs 1,80,000 crore and would grow at 20 per cent per annum.

“Today, everyone is conscious of the way they look. They keep aside some money for health and wellness,” Birla explained his reasons for entering this sector. “We would be announcing two more projects in the sector in the next two months,” he said.

The group will slowly venture into ayurveda, too, which it plans to take abroad, he added.