With nine hospitals under its umbrella, Habil Khorakiwala, chairman, Wockhardt Hospitals, says the company’s focus is to expand in states of Maharashtra and Gujarat where it already has a dominant position.
In an interview to CNBC-TV18’s Archana Shukla, Khorakiwala says the company will use Rs 350 crore to set up a 350 bedded facility in South Mumbai. Furthermore, he aims to spend Rs 500 crore as capital expansion over the next 3-4 years.
On his plans for the foreseeable future, he rules out any strategic partnership.
“We are quite passionate about it in terms of providing certain kinds of clinical care and quality of care. Therefore, a strategic partner can cause a lot of dissonance in the principle objective which we have. So, we have thought through this and we said for the time being we will keep it as long as possible a private institution,” he adds.
Below is the edited transcript of the interview.
Q: What are your current capex plans?
A: Currently, for this hospital we invested about Rs 350 crore. So, any new institution you create there is a level of investment which is there. So, whatever investment is required we will do that. So, you can put a figure of something like Rs 500 crore in next few years.
Q: In next 3-4 years?
A: Three to four years.
Q: How do you intend to fund it?
A: Internally.
Q: It will all be through internal accruals?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you think as you expand beyond Maharashtra and the other states going to West Delhi would you need some bit of a strategic partner in terms of raising funds? Would you look at inducting some strategic partner, maybe selling some bit of the stake at Wockhardt Hospital, would that be on the mind?
A: Our current thinking is that we would like to let it remain private. We are quite passionate about it in terms of providing certain kinds of clinical care and quality of care. Therefore, a strategic partner can cause a lot of dissonance in the principle objective which we have. So, we have thought through this and we said for the time being we will keep it as long as possible a private institution.
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