* India's Manipal Health files for IPO of up to $1.17

billion

* Manipal Health is backed by Singapore's Temasek

* Existing investors to sell up to $319.6 million worth

of shares

By Vibhuti Sharma and Rishika Sadam

BENGALURU, March 24 (Reuters) - India's Manipal Health

Enterprises filed for an up to $1.17 billion initial public

offering on Tuesday, betting on rising demand for speciality

care even as the domestic equities market faces volatility amid

fragile global sentiment.

The initial public offering comprises a fresh issue to raise

$852.2 million and an offer for sale of about 43.2 million

shares by existing investors such as Singapore's Temasek, U.S.

investment firm TPG, Manipal Education and Novo

Holdings, according to its draft prospectus.

Existing investors plan to sell up to 30 billion rupees

($319.58 million) worth of shares, according to two sources

familiar with the matter. They did not want to be named because

they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Demand for specialised healthcare has surged in the world's

most populous country and is a key driver of growth, analysts

say, a trend that is increasingly attracting private and foreign

investment from firms such as Blackstone, Novo Holdings

and KKR.

India remains an undersupplied healthcare market, with

strong tailwinds from rising insurance penetration, industry

consolidation favouring larger players and higher per capita

incomes driving demand for quality care, said Sanjay Singh, head

of investment banking at InCred Capital, adding the IPO is

likely to see strong interest from both institutional and retail

investors.

Manipal's listed rival, Apollo Hospitals said

revenue from complex care such as cardiology, oncology, and

neurology rose 22.6% in the December 2025 quarter, highlighting

growing demand for advanced medical care.

Manipal's IPO plans come amid a sharp slump in India's

equities market, with global risk-off sentiment, tightening

liquidity and sustained foreign outflows weighing.

Foreign investors have withdrawn more than $11.65 billion

from Indian stocks so far in 2026, including more than $10.17

billion in March alone, according to depository data.

MANIPAL'S LAY OF THE LAND

As of September 30, Manipal had about 12,367 operational

beds, while Apollo, valued at roughly $10.88 billion, has nearly

10,000 and targets 13,000 beds by fiscal 2030.

For the six months to September 2025, Manipal Health posted

a consolidated net profit of 5.61 billion rupees and revenue of

47.13 billion rupees.

The company plans to use IPO proceeds to repay debt and to

fund its acquisition of Sahyadri Hospitals, which it bought for

$700 million.

($1 = 93.8725 Indian rupees)