ASG Eye Hospital plans to invest Rs 2,000 cr to increase footprint pan-India by 2030

Mumbai, Dec 4 (PTI) Super specialty eye care chain ASG Eye Hospital plans to invest Rs 1,500-2,000 crore to open an additional 400-500 centres across India by 2030, with a focus on tier II and III cities, a top company executive said on Thursday.

The company is also considering targeted acquisitions to fuel expansion, the official stated.

"Currently, we have around 200 centres across the country. We are planning to expand to another 400-500 centres across the country with a main focus on tier II and III cities where the availability of eye doctors is difficult.

"For this expansion, we are planning to invest Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 2,000 crore, which will be funded through internal accruals, private placement or from the capital market," ASG Eye Hospital Managing Director and CEO Arun Singhvi told reporters here.

Currently, the company's smaller towns and bigger cities exposure ratio is 30:70, which is likely to reverse in the next few years with the expansion, he added.

For this expansion, the company is also looking for targeted acquisitions, he said, adding that ASG plans to pursue 8 to 10 niche practice acquisitions annually, enabling the integration of strong regional clinical capabilities. So far, ASG Eye Hospital has made 25 acquisitions.

Further, Singhvi said that the company is expected to bring out an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the next 12-18 months.

"We are aiming to raise around Rs 1,000 crores from the capital market," he added.

The company, he said, will establish 5 to 7 new state of the art centres each year, with a focused push into the 100 districts (annually) where demand for quality eye care is rising rapidly and specialist access remains limited, Singhvi said.

"With over 80 per cent of vision loss in India being preventable, our expansion is a mission to end unnecessary blindness. We are taking world-class eye care out of the metropolitan hubs and into the heartland, where the need is more acute. Through Public-Private partnerships and pioneering Tele-ophthalmology, we are building the infrastructure necessary to make quality eye care a right, not a privilege, for every citizen," he said.

ASG Eye Hospital is expecting a revenue of Rs 1,500 crore in 2025-26, over 31 per cent growth from Rs 1,142 crore in FY25.

Talking about challenges, Singhvi said, keeping pace with high-quality treatment versus the high cost of treatment, which is due to imported lenses and machinery.

"As India does not manufacture lenses and machinery, 80 per cent of which are imported, the cost of treatment is growing. The government has reduced GST to relax the prices, however, rupee depreciation is keeping the cost high. Going forward, there is going to be a major challenge between aspiration, quality care and pricing as 90 per cent of the eye diseases are related to cataract and retina," he added. PTI SM MR