After the successful opening of its cluster of hospitals at a single location at Mulund in Mumbai, Wockhardt Hospitals is planning similar clusters at Versova and South Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and two more cities making the total to six. "By 2007, Wockhardt Hospitals will have seven clusters of hospitals across various places in the country," said Habil Khorakhiwala, Chairman, Wockhardt Hospitals.

"All the formalities from our end have been accomplished. We are only waiting for the necessary approvals from the regulators for commencing the development activities," said an official connected with the project.

Wockhardt Hospitals spent about Rs. 100 crore for developing the Mulund hospital. Going by this, an expenditure of about Rs 500 - Rs 600 crore is estimated for the entire project. The entire financing of the projects will be done by Wockhardt Hospitals, said the official. The Khorakhiwala family owns about 80 per cent stake in Wockhardt Hospitals, the balance being held by Wockhardt Life Sciences.

Along with its Mulund complex, Wockhardt Hospitals owns a heart hospital in Bangalore and a kidney hospital in Kolkata.

These clusters will be developed in lines with the already operational one at Mulund, Mumbai. The cluster at Mulund has a heart hospital along with four specialty hospitals - Brain & Spine Hospital, Bone & Joint Hospital, an eye hospital, and a Minimal Access Surgery Hospital.

Wockhardt Hospitals has an alliance with the renowned Harvard Medical School, which supports it in areas like training of the faculty, technological support, infrastructure development, research, and management.

Wockhardt is the only pharmaceutical company to have diversified into the hospital care sector. It is also one among few private players, who are investing heavily into the hospital sector. There has to be substantial involvement of the private participation in the hospital care sector if the services are to be benefited by a majority of the country's population, mentions a recent McKinsey-CII report on the healthcare sector in the country. The report states that in order to meet the growing demand of healthcare in the country, huge investments worth Rs 100,000 crore to Rs 140,000 crore need to be made in the infrastructure for providing cost effective facilities in the next ten years. The bulk of the investments made will need to come from the private sector. Wockhardt's interest in the sector only exemplifies the report.