The Middle East-based DM Healthcare has announced an ambitious expansion and investment plans in India. It is allocating Rs. 1,000 crore to set up hospitals in Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka over the next 3-5 years. The company is raising funds through a private equity player India Value Fund.

The India focus will remain in the tier-2 and tier-3 cities to meet the need for access to quality secondary and tertiary healthcare in these regions, according to Dr. Azad Moopen, founder & chairman, DM Healthcare.

Using a two-pronged approach for the expansion exercise, DM Healthcare will seek to acquire mid-sized hospitals, for directed technological up-gradation and expansion, in addition to building new ones. Currently it is the largest network of healthcare establishments in the GCC for primary to tertiary care. It owns a chain of 70 clinics and pharmacies across UAE, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

By the year 2015, the Group has chalked out plans to open up 300 healthcare facilities across Middle East and India with over 10,000 healthcare professionals including 1,500 doctors.

Dr. Moopen started the Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) a 600-bed super specialty hospital in Kerala with an NABH accreditation. The MIMS Charitable Trust provides free healthcare to over 7000 BPL (below poverty line) from the Vazhayoor village of Malappuram district, through a corporate-funded rural medical insurance programmes in the country.

MIMS Charitable Trust is extending free and subsidized medical treatment to the tune of Rs. 50 lakh a year, to the downtrodden and poor people seeking healthcare treatment. He has set up the MAM Community Dialysis Centre at Vadakkara, in Kerala, to provide free and subsidized dialysis to the under privileged.

“It is indeed an exciting time to be in India and announce our plans. The healthcare scenario for the country is surely looking up, as many international patients now look for value and quality treatment beyond the borders. Attention to accreditation and infrastructure development will give the much-needed shot in the arm to the general confidence of these patients in the Indian healthcare system. The impact of a dedicated exercise in building India as an important healthcare hub will also boost quality, and democratize access to even those who cannot afford it”, stated Dr. Moopen.

DM Healthcare treats over 2 million patients annually across India and the GCC. As part of the Group’s Community Good Health initiatives, a lot of free awareness and counselling programmes are conducted. The Group conducts regular free medical camps in different GCC countries. In 2009, he launched the “Save the Little Heart” programme in Dubai. He raised around Rs. 65 lakh to conduct cardiac surgery for 60 children in the low economic bracket.