New Delhi: After foraying into clothes and food industry, big industrial players are ready to venture into retail health care business. The healthcare companies now look forward to providing round-the-clock healthcare, counseling and out-patient services in India.
Fortis plans to set up 1,000 outlets across the country by 2012 at an estimated cost of Rs 800 crore. While Apollo Group took the plunge into retail health care a year ago, Fortis HealthWorld—an arm of Fortis Group—recently launched 10 pharmacy outlets in the capital.
"The idea of a health store is to be proximal to the customers. It will provide them choice and convenience. We want to offer a bouquet of health products and services," Shivender Mohan Singh, managing director of Fortis Health was quoted by PTI as saying.
Leading FMCG company Dabur India Limited is another big name to hit the sector, which the company believes is nascent and holds great potential. "Organised retail, which currently accounts for only 3 per cent of the total retail market in India, has tremendous growth potential in the fast expanding Indian economy," P D Narang, group director (corporate affairs).
According to Narang, Dabur's "in-depth understanding of the Indian consumer and capability to deliver goods at affordable prices" makes it "uniquely placed" to enter the retail sector.
Subhiksha Retail—one of the newest entrants in the field—is also ready to tap the huge market.
"The market for pharma products in the country is huge. There are relatively few national players and Subhiksha is the only one with a pan-India presence with over 650 outlets across more than 30 cities," says Mohit Khattar, president (marketing) for Subhiksha.
With excerpts from PTI
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