The Columbia Asia Group is planning to open eight multi-specialty community hospitals with a total capacity of 800 beds in India by 2012.

The group is building two 100-bed community hospitals in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) and Chandigarh. Six more such hospitals are likely to be set up in Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Lucknow and Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), Jalandhar (Punjab), Pune (Maharashtra) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat). All these hospital are likely to be ready by 2012.

These hospitals are part of the group's Rs 800 crore expansion plan to open 14 hospitals in India. Funds for the expansion have been tied up through private equity.

At present, it operates six hospitals, including a referral hospital, in India. These are located in Bangalore (2 hospitals) and Mysore (Karnataka), Kolkata (West Bengal), Patiala (Punjab) and New Delhi with a total capacity of 640 beds.