Prathap C Reddy and Family

Prathap C. Reddy founded Apollo Hospitals on the argument that Indians deserved world-class healthcare at home. That argument was not obvious in 1983.

Reddy founded Apollo Hospitals in Chennai in 1983, at a point when privately operated multi-specialty hospitals of international standard did not exist in India and patients requiring advanced procedures routinely travelled abroad for treatment. His argument, that Indians deserved access to the same quality of care domestically and that the private sector could build and operate it, required convincing investors, regulators and patients simultaneously that a private hospital business was viable in the Indian context. The first hospital, and the ones that followed it, proved that it was.

Apollo now operates over 70 hospitals and has expanded into pharmacy retail, diagnostics and digital health through Apollo HealthCo. The four Reddy sisters, Preetha, Suneeta, Shobana and Sangita, each lead different divisions of the enterprise. The medical tourism business, which attracts patients from the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia for procedures at significantly lower cost than comparable Western hospitals, has become a material revenue stream and positions India's private healthcare industry in global terms.