Vishal Bali, Fortis Group Chief Executive, has resigned to pursue his entrepreneurial plans in healthcare.
It has been a journey of over 23 years, of which the last four were with Fortis. And having taken it through its transitions, transactions and international forays, it was time to move on, Bali told Business Line .
“I was fortunate to be in a sector at a very nascent stage, when I joined Wockhardt as a management trainee in 1991,” he said. As a key voice for the healthcare sector, Bali was Wockhardt Hospitals’ Chief Executive - when 10 hospitals from the Mumbai-headquartered company were acquired by Fortis Healthcare in 2009, for about Rs 900 crore.
“Though I joined Fortis through an acquisition (of some of Wockhardt’s hospitals), I was asked to head the group and that shows the opportunities for a professional,” he recalls, of his stint with Fortis’ Malvinder and Shivinder Singh.
Be it the Singh brothers or Wockhardt Hospitals’ promoter Habil Khorakiwala, Bali says both promoters were extremely passionate and determined in the face of challenges.
Forty-five-year-old Bali’s journey has witnessed Khorakiwala pull through the crisis that hit Wockhardt Hospitals’ expansion in early 2008, when Wockhardt Hospitals IPO was among the first causalities of a volatile stock market.
While Bali’s resignation from Fortis has been accepted, he will remain with them till end March 2014, the company said, adding that his responsibilities will be shared by Shivinder Singh, Executive Vice-Chairman and Aditya Vij, Chief Executive (India).