Philips likely to set up medical equipment unit

Philips Electronics India is exploring manufacturing opportunities for medical equipment in the country.

"The company is exploring manufacturing opportunities in the country, though it does not make sense till a certain scale of operations is achieved,"said Anjan Bose, managing director, (medical systems).

"We have not finalised plans to set up any unit immediately, but are exploring alternatives that are in tandem with the pace of the business and its global model," said Bose.

The units could be set up primarily to address the economy segment of the market, he said.

Equipment such as ECG, monitor, X-Ray, ultra-sound machine could be manufactured at the proposed production facility, he said. "Of the 37 cathlabs sold during the last 18 months, 24 were from Philips. Philips had a share of more than 50 per cent in 64-slice CT scan," he noted.

The company also has more than 50 per cent share in the patient-monitor market, claimed Bose.

The medical systems division recorded a 40 per cent sales growth during the first six months of the current financial year and was expecting to end the year on a better note.

"During the first six months of operations this year, we have recorded around a 40 per cent growth compared with the corresponding period last year,'' he said.

"The growth in 2005 was around 41 per cent. We are expecting to keep up this growth momentum," he added.

Bose is expecting the turnover of the company to be around Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion). The domestic medical equipment and accessories market would be around Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) recording an annual growth rate of 12-15 per cent, he added.

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