Zulekha Hospitals has two multispecialty secondary care hospitals in the UAE. The hospital based in Sharjah was set up in 1992 and the one in Dubai was set up in 2004. Both hospitals are accredited by the Joint Commission International (“JCI”), USA.

Zulekha Hospitals is majority benefically owned by Dr Zulekha Iqbal Daud (Managing Director) and Ms Zanubia Shams (Chief Executive Officer), both non Resident Indians residing in the UAE for over 30 years.

The total expansion cost (“Project Cost”) for Zulekha’s proposed expansion in Sharjah and India is estimated at approximately $52m. IFC is proposing to provide a financing package of up to $20m to Zulekha’s proposed holding company (“HoldCo”), to fund their expansion in India.

24.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	24.0
Equity

* These investment figures are indicative

Zulekha’s expansion in the UAE will take place at its Sharjah facility, located in Al Naseriya area and the proposed facility will be constructed on a vacant plot adjacent to the current facility. Zulekha’s proposed facility in India is in Mankapur area of Nagpur in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

- Delivery of quality healthcare services to an IDA country: The access to healthcare in non-metro cities of India, such as Nagpur (where Zulekha Hospitals is setting up the project) is low, when compared to the regional and global standards.
- Strong demonstration effects on the healthcare industry: The Project will demonstrate best-practice standards in clinical and managerial aspects in a smaller city such as Nagpur, which current lacks adequate thresholds in these areas.
- Increase in South-South investment: As with the IFC investments in other MENA based healthcare operators, Zulekha Hospitals currently has a strong brand name and market presence in the UAE. The Company''s investment into India will foster much needed South South investment into the country (especially into a non-metro city of India) where there is significant and unmet demand for quality healthcare services.
- Increasing employment: The Project will increase employment in emerging markets, especially in non-metro cities where there is widespread unemployment, and available employable resources.
- Support to women: IFC investment in the Project will support a business promoted and managed by women. In addition, the business also has a high potential to employ women across the healthcare sector from doctors to paramedics staff to administration and support staff.Delivery of quality healthcare services to an IDA country

- Improvement in corporate governance standards: IFC involvement will assist the Company in improving its Corporate Governance standards and help it successfully transition from a family owned business into a corporate business.
- IFC global healthcare industry knowledge: Zulekha Hospitals will also be able to share IFC global healthcare industry knowledge, especially when they are proposing to expand into a new country such as India, where IFC has significant exposure to the healthcare industry.
- Potential to Implement EE strategies in new-build, thereby encouraging competitors to consider doing the same: Should Zulekha Hospitals work with IFC to implement clean production initiatives it may contribute to significant cost-savings, reduced environmental damage, and importantly, provide a strong signalling effect inducing other companies in India to assess the merits of such initiatives.

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s environmental and social review because the project may result in limited number of specific environmental and social impacts that can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to generally recognized performance standards, guidelines or design criteria.

Key environmental, social, health and safety impacts associated with the Project include: environmental and social management system, air emissions control, water and waste water management, solid and hazardous waste management including biomedical waste; labor and working conditions, employee and contractor occupational health and safety; community health, safety and security during construction and operational phase including radiation hazards, traffic management, and security services; life and fire safety including emergency response; and energy & water efficiency opportunities to further reduce the facilities’ environmental footprints and ensure they are climate change resilient.

Further details on the potential environmental and social impact of the Project and guidance on how and where information about the Project can be obtained are provided in the IFC Environmental & Social Review Summary.