Emaar, Fortis plan JV to set up 25 hospitals

P B Jayakumar in Mumbai

Realty company Emaar MGF Land Limited (Emaar MGF) and Ranbaxy Group-promoted hospital chain Fortis Healthcare plan to form a joint venture to set up 25 hospitals across major cities in India, with an investment of Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion).

Envisaged as a "one-stop shop" for healthcare at Emaar MGF residential complexes and other locations, the hospitals will focus on upper secondary and lower tertiary levels of treatment facilities, sources said. Each hospital will have a bed capacity of 75 to 125 beds.

Emaar MGF and Fortis will sign a memorandum of understanding for the 50:50 joint venture, which will be an exclusive arrangement mandated to set up the hospitals in ten years from the time the first site is transferred or acquired, the sources said.

"We have an MoU in place and details of the project are being worked out. I cannot confirm further details since we have not yet signed any joint venture agreement," said Shivinder Mohan Singh, CEO and managing director, Fortis Healthcare.

Fortis Healthcare has 12 corporate hospitals in north India, besides a chain of pathology laboratories named SRL Ranbaxy and healthcare stores called Fortis Healthworld.

Fortis plans to expand its network to 40 hospitals in three years with an investment of over Rs 1,000-1,500 crore (Rs 10 billion to Rs 15 billion), Shivinder Mohan Singh had told Business Standard in April last year.

Emaar MGF executives declined to comment on the new venture, citing an imminent initial public offer that is expected to raise over Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) to fund its projects.

Emaar MGF Land is a joint venture between one of the world's leading real estate companies, Emaar Properties PJSC of Dubai, and MGF Development Limited of India. It is setting up a Rs 16,000 integrated township at Mohali hills near Chandigarh.

Emaar MGF is also planning large scale real estate projects in residential, hospitality, commercial and retail, education, healthcare and IT parks and special economic zones in India. It has approval for nine SEZs in various states and plans to add about 25,000 hotel rooms in India in ten years.