New Delhi: Giving a major push to their existing bed capacity, corporate hospital chains in India—11 listed and two unlisted—are likely to invest over ₹30,000 crore to add over 14,500 beds across metros, Tier-II and III cities by FY27, according to ICRA estimates.
The credit rating agency in its latest outlook for the industry noted that, “many hospital chains are looking at inorganic opportunities, which led to increasing consolidation in the past few years and given the strong financial performance outlook, the sector has witnessed heightened interest over the past few years from institutional investors.
For the ongoing fiscal the agency projected the bed occupancy to remain in the range of 62-64 per cent and the average revenue per occupied bed (ARPOB) expected to grow at the rate of 6-8 per cent.
Hospitals operating profit margin is expected to range between 22-24 per cent, driven by the ongoing cost optimisation measures and digitisation initiatives.
Over FY2026 and FY2027 the Outlook projectes “11 listed and two large, unlisted players are likely to add around 14,500 beds at a total capex of around ₹30,000-₹32,000 crore”
This translates to around 26 per cent of their existing bed capacity at the end of FY2025 and the agency expected these additions to move with a specific focus in tier-II cities.
For FY26 the return on capital employed (RoCE) is expected to range between 13-15 per cent.
On account of the aforementioned projected expansions, in FY26 the Debt/OPBDITA ratio is expected to reach 2.4-2.6x, up from 2.1x reported in March 2025, as ongoing capital investments partly funded by debt, However, ICRA has termed the debt metrics healthy, citing an improvement in absolute OPBDITA.
Commenting on the outlook Mythri Macherla, Vice President & Sector Head, ICRA said, “in FY26, the ARPOB growth for the industry is expected to remain between 6-8 per cent, in line with the 7 per cent YoY expansion seen in FY25 and annual price revisions by companies to offset cost inflation in addition to technological advancements (such as robotic surgeries) augmenting high realisations for the hospitals.”
