Dr Agarwal's Health Care plans 65 new facilities in FY27 to keep its growth momentum. The chain already opened 39 centres in the first six months. CEO Adil Agarwal said, "We expect the surgical volumes actually to start picking up." The firm will fund this expansion using debt and IPO proceeds.
Dr Agarwal's Health Care expects to maintain its growth trajectory through the rest of the financial year as it accelerates its expansion plans and anticipates higher surgical volumes in the second half, CEO Adil Agarwal said.
The Chennai-headquartered eye care hospital chain plans to add around 65 new facilities during the year, including 26-27 centres in the second half. The company believes increasing its presence across western and northern India will help offset the seasonally weaker festive quarter.
He added that the company should be able to maintain a similar growth trajectory that it has maintained for H1.
The company has already opened 39 new facilities in the first six months of the year and has stepped up investments in surgical centres. It plans to launch about 55 surgical facilities this year, compared with 30 launched in the financial year 2025-26 (FY26).
According to Agarwal, the second half is expected to benefit from seasonal demand, particularly in western and northern markets.
"We expect the surgical volumes actually to start picking up... especially in Bombay and Delhi, we start to see surgical volumes actually increase," he said.
Expansion to be funded through multiple sources
Agarwal said the expansion will be funded through a combination of internal accruals, debt and initial public offerings (IPO) proceeds, adding that the company remains comfortable with its funding plans.
He also expects profitability to improve as recently opened centres mature. Mature facilities currently operate at earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) margins of around 25-26%, while newer centres reduce the blended margin to about 22% at the operating level.
Centres in core markets such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka typically break even within three to six months, while facilities in newer markets like Delhi NCR and Haryana generally take 12 to 15 months, he said.
Core markets remain the focus
The company said 65-70% of future expansion will continue to be concentrated in its core markets, while 30-35% will be directed towards newer geographies to strengthen its national presence.
Agarwal said the company has a steady pipeline of doctors supported by in-house training programmes and does not expect hiring to become a constraint as it expands.
Providing an update on its corporate restructuring, Agarwal said the merger process has been completed, and shareholders of the listed subsidiary are expected to receive shares in the holding company by November 17, after which the business will operate as a single entity.