23 / 40
23
of the market. This segment comprises items such as
• Medical disposables - catheters, IV cannula, infusion sets,
medical drapes, surgical masks, sutures, syringes, etc.
• Medical furniture like patient beds and examination
couches, patient trolleys, operating tables, wheelchairs,
etc.
Investments in Medical diagnostics sector
High end medical technology products are largely
imported to India. Import constitutes of 75% of the Indian
medical technology market. The key categories of items
imported into India Imaging equipment, pacemaker,
orthopaedic, and prosthetic appliances, breathing &
respiration apparatus and dental equipment.International
companies in this field are using India as a manufacturing
base by either setting up facilities of their own or by
acquiring domestic manufacturers. 3M’s manufacturing
plant in Pune, Becton Dickinson’s manufacturing facility
in Haryana, Hollister’s manufacturing facility in India
and Philips Medical Systems’ acquisition of Medtronics
and Alpha X-Ray Technologies are recent examples of
this development. Medical Technology Parks have been
proposed by the Government of India in addition to the
existing parks to encourage domestic manufacturing of
medical equipment.
Many foreign players have entered the Indian healthcare
market due to the large market. Some of these foreign
players are Pacific Healthcare of Singapore, which is a Joint
Venture with Vital Healthcare in Hyderabad; Columbia
Asia Group, a Seattle-based hospital services company;
Wockhardt Hospitals; Steris, a US-basedmedical equipment
company that has set up a wholly-owned arm in India; and
Amcare Labs, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins International
of the US, which has set up a diagnostic laboratory in
Hyderabad through a JV with the Apollo Group.
Besides hospitals, foreign players have also evinced interest
in establishing research and development (R&D) centres
in India; for example, Abbot Laboratories has announced
plans to set up an R&Dcentre in collaborationwith Syngene,
a contract research subsidiary of Biocon Ltd., to develop
nutrition products in India; US pharma company Merck,
which is known as MSD outside of the US and Canada,
plans to set up a laboratory in New Delhi for developing
vaccines at an estimated cost of USD 133.93 million.
Major Players in Diagnostic Labs in India
The diagnostic lab business has traditionally been
considered a high margin, asset-intensive business. Some
of the major names in diagnostic labs are
Path Labs
No. of Labs Collection Centre
Dr. Lal Path Labs
35
600+
Metropolis
50
350
SRL Diagnostics
35
800 +
Piramal
Diagnostic
104
300
*
The Author is a Director of Market Intelligence in
ASA & Associates LLP
,
www.asa.in