Shares of Max Healthcare Institute Ltd were trading in the red and 3% lower on 16 April despite the company announcing its plans to invest over Rs 5,000 crore to double its bed capacity to over 8,000 beds in the next five years.

The company plans to invest Rs 2,500 crore in Uttar Pradesh, including setting up a brand new 500-bed hospital on 5.6 acres of land parcel located at Shaheed Path and increasing the capacity of the acquired facility.

Earlier last year, the company acquired Sahara Hospital in Lucknow for a total consideration of Rs 940 crore, which they renamed Max Super Specialty Hospital, Lucknow and is looking to increase the capacity by 300 beds. The company also plans to bring in state-of-the-art cancer care and robotic surgical systems to strengthen the organ transplantation program.

Through these two facilities, the company expects to generate 10,000 jobs in Uttar Pradesh.

Abhay Soi, Chairman and MD of Max Healthcare, said, “UP is a state which is marching towards becoming a USD 1 trillion economy by 2027. There is a tremendous amount of development which is happening. For the development of any economy it is a prerequisite that healthcare also develops over there… We wanted to participate in the development of the state,”

The company has also acquired a land parcel for a greenfield hospital at Shaheed Path for another 500 beds.

Abhay Soi added that with the development of the state of Uttar Pradesh and the increase in per capita income, there is a growing need for much larger investment in healthcare.

At 3:30 pm, the shares of Max Healthcare closed 1.36% lower at Rs 822 on NSE.