India's largest hospital and pharmacy chain, Apollo Hospitals has announced that it will be investing around Rs 10 billion in the next two years to set up about 15 hospitals in tier II and III cities in the country.

Apollo plans to take its total hospital bed count to 10,000 from 8,000 now over the next 18 months.

Apollo, which is looking for overseas expansion as well, is also planning to enter Sri Lanka for a second time, besides expanding its operations in African continents.

The hospital chain is working at reducing the average length of stay of patients to 4.9 days from 5.4 days by adopting methods like shifting patients to leisure hotels.