Chennai: After Africa, eye care chain Dr Agarwal’s Health Care is looking to enter the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Initially, it will launch facilities in the UAE.“We are evaluating GCC as a market and, particularly, to begin with, we will start in the UAE. We have slowed down a little in this process because of the current war situation in West Asia. However, we are waiting for the current situation to settle down,” its CEO Adil Agarwal told TOI.The development comes amid the Chennai-headquartered eye care network expanding its footprint in Africa, where it is launching centres in two more countries, Ethiopia and Nigeria. Recently, the company’s board approved the incorporation of a wholly owned subsidiary in Nigeria. Currently, it operates 19 hospitals in nine countries in Africa, including Kenya and Mauritius. About 10% of its revenue comes from overseas. It reported revenue from operations of Rs 614 crore in Q1 FY27.Dr Agarwal’s Health Care chairman Amar Agarwal said the GCC is a huge market. “If you take GCC, it is a potential area, which has stable govts and a good economy. And we have got a very good brand there because a lot of our patients come from this region,” he said.The company is gearing up for a massive expansion, targeting the opening of an additional 500 centres across India and abroad. This would take the total number of facilities from 310 at present to 800 over the next five years, according to Amar.“Rs 2,000 crore-Rs 2,500 crore would be invested over the next five years. Now, we are in 14 states, and we will be present in every state over the next five years through this expansion. Eye care is the fastest-growing single specialty in healthcare, and the entire eye care market is expected to grow at 12% to 14% over the next three to four years. We will be growing above the market, targeting a growth of 20%-25%,” he added.
