Manipal Hospitals Maps Next Growth Phase with Targeted Acquisitions & Geographic Expansion

Managing Director and CEO Dilip Jose said the emphasis will remain on strengthening operational fundamentals instead of competing for market-cap leadership.

Manipal Hospitals has outlined its next phase of growth by prioritising selective acquisitions, expansion into new markets, and higher clinical complexity while strengthening patient experience.

The company has reaffirmed that future growth will depend on execution, capacity expansion, and integrating acquired hospitals rather than pursuing scale alone.

The strategy comes shortly after Manipal Hospitals joined India's listed healthcare companies following its public listing.

Managing Director and CEO Dilip Jose said the emphasis will remain on strengthening operational fundamentals instead of competing for market-cap leadership.

"We have focused on rigour of execution, on ensuring that more and more advanced and complex work is getting done in our hospitals, and patient experience remains in focus. We would want to ensure that all those things continue in the future too. If you focus on fundamentals, we will continue to grow."

Jose also downplayed the importance of becoming the country's largest hospital operator, stating, "It is not really about whether we are the largest or otherwise. We should be relevant in the geographies where we are."

While organised hospital chains continue to expand, he believes significant opportunities remain because much of India's healthcare demand is still served by nursing homes and neighbourhood hospitals.

According to Jose, Manipal Hospitals will continue concentrating on tertiary and quaternary care, where it has built its core expertise.

On acquisitions, Jose said the company's immediate priority is integrating Sahyadri Hospitals, its most recent acquisition in Maharashtra, into the Manipal network through brand transition and planned capacity additions.

"We would want to look at opportunistic acquisitions in areas of interest to us. We would also focus on geographical expansion in new regions such as Kerala, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, as well as expand our presence in existing regions in the East, West and NCR," he added.

The company currently operates more than 50 hospitals with over 13,000 beds and plans to add another 3,000 beds over the next three years.

Addressing affordability, he said Manipal Hospitals intends to increase average revenue per occupied bed by treating more complex cases rather than relying on higher prices. "Affordability is something we have to be mindful of. We would want to grow ARPOB (average revenue per occupied bed) through complexity and not price increases. Pricing growth is 3-4% per year, but complexity growth is what is driving ARPOB."

He added that while Manipal Hospitals will continue strengthening tertiary and quaternary care services, substantial opportunities also exist across primary care, preventive healthcare, and wellness as India's healthcare infrastructure continues to expand.

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