Fortis Healthcare is looking to expand its presence in Asia. The company is also looking to list its healthcare unit in Singapore and diagnostic business unit, Super Religare Laboratories, in India in 2011, according to senior company officials.

Malvinder Singh, group chairman, said, “We are planning to make Singapore our base and will have a pan-Asia presence through organic and inorganic growth.”

Fortis Healthcare is yet to decide on a time frame for its Singapore listing, said Singh. The company has appointed Religare Capital Markets as its advisor and will soon invite banks to pitch for the sale mandate.

Regarding the growth in the domestic market, Fortis plans to set up 10 hospitals in next two years. “We are hoping to be the biggest player in healthcare sector in five years,” said Malvinder Singh.

Fortis on Wednesday inaugurated its cancer institute in Mulund, a suburb in Mumbai. It would soon spread its healthcare units to Kolkata, Delhi and set up its biggest unit in Gurgaon, said the company officials. The company is planning to have a capacity of 1,000 beds in Gurgaon hospital.

“Fortis plans to have 6,000 beds across its healthcare units. They already have operationalised 3,000 beds. As per our estimates, company would invest Rs 1,000 crore incrementally for the next 3,000 beds over 2-3 years and expand mainly in south-east Asia,” said an analyst with a global brokerage house. The company officials said that the group plans to remain focused on healthcare and financial services business.

“Both Fortis and Apollo are market leaders. Healthcare major Apollo too plans to invest nearly Rs 2,400 crore during 2012-14 to increase its capacity by about 3000 beds. Thus, both the stocks are lucrative for the investors,” added the analyst.

Fortis Healthcare recently sold stake in Singapore-based Parkway Holdings for Rs 320 crore to Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund. The profit from this stake sale will be accounted for in the second quarter of financial year 2010-11.