Aster DM Healthcare is in the limelight today. The stock went up to an intraday high at Rs.156, rising 5%. Its 52-week high was at Rs.169.

The market is pretty happy with the news that it is planning to make a foray into the diagnostics segment in order to scale up business in the country.

It plans to have around 40 standalone diagnostics laboratories in India over the next two years, with the first two outlets expected to come up in Bengaluru in the fourth quarter and in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra in FY21. It plans to invest Rs.40 crore on this venture.

The company is also planning to look at strategic acquisitions to expand this business and additional capital will be deployed accordingly.