Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

Siemens sees growth for medical unit

V Phani Kumar in Mumbai

With the domestic market for medical equipment growing at a rapid pace, diversified engineering major Siemens is planning an "appreciable" growth for the unit in India.

The company is planning to leverage the gains it made in the segment during the previous fiscal, when the medical business contributed more to the company's bottomline than its larger business divisions of power and automation and drives.

Senior Siemens executives said on Friday that the company's medical division is hoping to capitalise on the "impending boom" in investments in the non-metro centres and districts, with plans to introduce new products during the current fiscal.

Siemens' medical solutions' division, which has a presence in the routine diagnostics and high-end super speciality segments, currently offers products in the cardiac cathlab, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound and critical care segments.

The division had contributed over a fifth of Siemens' PBT of Rs 31.5 crore (RS 315 million) during the year ended September 30, 2002.

Siemens' has a presence in power, automation and drives, healthcare and services, industrial solutions and services, transport, information and communication and real estate.

Jurgen Schubert, managing director, Siemens said all the business divisions have reported profits during the previous fiscal, for the first time in six years.

However, with the performance of many of its business units affected because of overall economic conditions and government policy, the company is for the moment waiting for India to "wake up" before committing any specific investments for the country.

Asked about the areas in which the company would invest the $500 million that Siemens AG, the company's German parent, has earmarked for India and China, Schubert said, "We are willing to invest the money, but it depends on when India will wake up. No investment plans have been finalised as yet."

"The government has to realise that rhetorical statements are not helpful. Clear time-based action and a roadmap for infrastructure development are definitely required," he added.

Powered by

ALSO READ:
More Money Headlines