TO TAP the Rs 4,500-crore maternity care market, India's largest healthcare company Apollo Hospitals plans to set up a chain of 25-30 exclusive birth facility centres, designed as homelike wellness centres. The centres will come up over 2-3 years. Apollo Health and Lifestyle (AHL), a subsidiary of Apollo Hospitals that also runs Apollo Clinic chain, will set up these centres across the country. AHL runs two such centres, called Cradle, in Bangalore and Gurgaon, which was started in 2006 as a pilot project. "After the tremendous response we received in our two centres, the company plans to set up 7-8 company-owned Cradles with an investment of around Rs 100 crore, excluding the real estate cost. Each centre will have 20-25 beds. In addition, we hope to add 15-17 centres through franchise partners,' AHL CEO Ratan Jalan told ET. According to Mr Jalan, hospitals have traditionally been designed and run to treat ill patients. Giving birth to a baby is not an illness and the company's birth centres provide a home-like ambience without compromising on the best clinical facilities.