The proposed Mumbai project is part of a series of new hospital projects planned by Apollo across the country, including Bangalore and Bhubaneswar. The healthcare major is also mulling setting up a hospital either in Allahabad or Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
Disclosing this in Hyderabad on Friday, Pratap C Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals, said the Mumbai joint venture project was currently under negotiations. JP Morgan is keen to take 60 per cent equity in the project.
Rattled by the recent acquisition of its hospital by a local player in Sri Lanka, the Apollo group, however, is planning to alter the equity model of its future joint venture projects, both in India and abroad.
While reiterating the group's strategy of roping in local players wherever possible in all the new projects, Reddy expressed concern over the Sri Lankan development, where the group lost its management role in the hospital despite having a 15-year agreement on account of the takeover by the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.
"In the light of these developments, we are now planning to increase our stake in the projects, where Apollo owns less than 51 per cent equity in a phased manner," the Apollo chairman told reporters on the sidelines of the announcement of a new research initiative on heart ailments in the Asian subcontinent.
Besides the ongoing plans, the group is also planning to set up hospitals in the European and American continents, which are expected to act as a channel for patients seeking access to not-so-expensive health services being offered in India by the Apollo group.
When asked about the investment requirements, he said funds were not an issue, as the entire world recognised the efficiency of the Apollo group in the healthcare sector.
