Apollo Hospitals was founded byPrathap C. Reddy in 1983 as the first corporate health care in India. The first branch at Chennai was inaugurated by the then President of IndiaZail Singh.[12]
Apollo developedtelemedicine services, after starting a pilot project in 2000 atAragonda, Prathap Reddy's home village.[13]
In 2006, Apollo exited its hospital inColombo calledApollo Hospital Sri Lanka by selling its stake toSri Lanka Insurance.[14] In 2007, Apollo Hospitals andDKV AG established a 74:26joint venture health insurance company called Apollo DKV Insurance Co.[15] The company was rebranded as Apollo Munich Health Insurance in 2009.[16]
In 2008, Apollo Hospitals started Apollo Reach, a chain of hospitals for Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities as well as semi-urban and rural areas, with the opening of the first Apollo Reach hospital inKarimnagar.[17][18]
In December 2012, Apollo Hospitals sold its 38% stake in Apollo Health Street, the group's healthcarebusiness process outsourcing division, to Sutherland Global Services for₹225 crore (US$42.11 million).[19]
In 2014, Apollo Hospitals acquired Hetero Med Solutions, a South Indian pharmacy chain with 320 stores, fromHetero Group for₹146 crore (US$23.92 million) in aslump sale. The stores were rebranded as Apollo Pharmacy.[20]
In October 2015, Apollo launched home care services under Apollo HomeCare[21] and its digital healthcare platform called Ask Apollo.[22]
In September 2017, Apollo announced an academic collaboration with Australia’sMacquarie University, where students enrolled in Macquarie's four-year graduate entry Doctor of Medicine program would complete 5 months of clinical rotations at Apollo hospitals in Hyderabad as part of their degree.[24]
In 2018, Apollo Hospitals opened their first hospital inKerala,Apollo Adlux Hospital, a 250-bedded tertiary care center as a joint venture with the Adlux group.[25][26]
In 2020, Apollo Hospitals sold its 50.80% percent majority stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance toHDFC for₹1,495 crore (US$201.76 million).[29] Later that year, it acquiredIHH Healthcare's 50% joint venture stake in Apollo Gleneagles Hospital in Kolkata for₹410 crore (US$55.33 million).[30]
In March 2022, Apollo Hospitals was included inNifty 50 benchmark index, replacingIndian Oil, and became the first hospital company to be included in the index.[31]
Apollo HealthCo was formed in 2021 with the merger of the group's non-hospital pharmacy chain Apollo Pharmacy and its digital healthcare business known as Apollo 24/7.[32]
Apollo Pharmacy – Apollo Pharmacy is the largest retail pharmacy chain in India with more than 5,000 stores in over 21 states.[33][34] It was started in 1987.[35]
Apollo 24/7 – Apollo 24/7 is thedigital healthcare platform of the group which was launched in 2020. It offerstelehealth consultation, online medicine ordering and delivery, and in-home diagnostics among other services.[36]
Apollo TeleHealth Services owns thetelehealth network of the group, operating via abusiness-to-consumer model under which it offers direct services like online consultations, appointment booking, medicine delivery, among others; abusiness-to-business offering to corporates for their employees; and abusiness-to-government agreement providing telehealth services in partnership withpublic health systems.[39] Established in 1999, it is headquartered inHyderabad and has more than 100 franchised teleclinics.[40][41]
A postal stamp issued in 2019 commemorating Apollo's Centre of Cardiology.
Apollo Research and Innovations is a research arm of the group which is involved inclinical trials of drugs, medical devices, healthcare software and consumer products. It was established in 2000 and has 17 centres at hospital locations.[42]
In 2016, a patient died at Apollo's Bilaspur Hospital during a treatment for stomach pain. While the hospital attributed his death to poisoning, the post-mortem report remained inconclusive pending a chemical analysis. The forensic laboratory report, obtained in 2019, revealed no presence of poison. Later in 2023, four doctors were arrested but subsequently released on bail.[45][46]
In a 2019 order, the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DSCDRC) found Indraprastha Apollo Hospital negligent in the treatment of a 24-year-old woman who died in 2007. As a result, the Commission directed the hospital to pay the woman's father a compensation of ₹10 lakh.[47]
British newspaperTelegraph in a December 2023 report[48] alleged that the chain's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital was involved in facilitating a "cash-for-kidney" racket, luring impoverished villagers from Myanmar to sell their kidneys to wealthy Burmese patients through forged documents and fabricated family ties.[49][50] TheGovernment of Delhi consequently initiated an investigation against the hospital.[51]
In March 2024, theNational Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission fined Apollo Speciality Hospital in Chennai and two doctors ₹30 lakh for medical negligence. The case involved a patient who did not regain consciousness after spinal surgery in April 2015 and remained in a vegetative state until his death in April 2017.[52]
In March 2025, theSupreme Court of India warned Indraprastha Apollo Hospital that it will direct theAll India Institute of Medical Sciences to take over if free treatment wasn't provided to poor patients in accordance with the original lease agreement, wherein 15 acres of prime land in Delhi was leased to Indraprastha Medical Corporation Limited by the Delhi Government for a symbolic rate of Re. 1 per month.[53]
₹21,794 crore (US$2.6 billion) (2025)
