Wockhardt Hospitals, which is divesting its 8 operating hospital and two on going projects to Fortis Healthcare Ltd for a consideration of Rs 909 crore, is planning to reduce its debt burden by Rs 500 crore and investing remaining funds in new hospitals. The company is setting up new hospital in Juhu, South Mumbai in next 12 to 15 months. Further it is planning to set up new hospitals in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

By retaining seven of its super speciality hospitals in Rajkot, Surat, Nasik, Nagpur and Hyderabad, Wockhardt Hospitals has a strong presence in the Western part of the country. In addition to these, it has 3 community hospitals in Bhavnagar, Goa and Vashi in Mumbai.

Habil Khorakiwala, chairman, Wockhardt said, "We will continue on its journey of growth which would include a state-of-the-art multi-speciality hospital in Mumbai Central within a year. The divestment in the business is mainly due to global melt down and cancelling of our IPO due to market conditions."

While speaking on its disinvestment, Khorakiwals added "Wockhardt Hospitals is built on the premise of creating clinical care centres of excellence to meet the unmet medical needs of the community. This has been a fair agreement thorough which, we believe Fortis will continue to deliver quality care and patient safety. Wockhardt will continue to retain its association with partners Harvard Medical International, a self-supporting not-for-profit subsidiary of Harvard Medical School.