|
Hindustan Syringes To Invest Rs 100
Cr
Disposable syringe manufacturer Hindustan Syringes and Medical Devices (HMD)
will invest up to Rs 100 crore in the next three years for expansion and expects
the surge in demand for its products to fuel the top-line to around Rs 325 crore
in the current fiscal.
"The company has been continuously investing in capacity expansion and we
expect to produce nearly two billion syringes this year up from last year's 1.5
billion mark. This will push our revenues by nearly 30 per cent," HMD Joint
Managing Director Rajiv Nath said.
He said the company closed the previous fiscal with revenues of Rs 250 crore
and expects to touch a top line of Rs 325 crore in the current fiscal.
The company would invest Rs 30 crore per annum for the next three years to
enhance its production capacity. It has also entered into technical
collaboration with UK-based Star Syringe to produce auto-disposable (AD)
syringes.
"AD syringes, which were initially introduced for immunisation by UNICEF, are
now being used in the curative sector and see a great demand in overseas
markets," Nath said.
The company is exporting these syringes to African and Latin American nations
which witness a high occurrence rate of AIDS. Exports contributed Rs 46 crore to
the company's overall revenues in the last fiscal.
"Countries like Uganda have banned the import of disposable syringes as they
are promoting the use of AD syringes and many other countries in Africa are also
in the process of phasing out the disposable syringes," he said.
He said a gradual shift from glass syringes to disposable syringes would
drive the company's growth in future in both in domestic market as well as
overseas markets.
(Ref: Economic Times dated 2, September 2007)
New Law To Regulate Medical Devices Market
The government will bring in a new law to regulate the Rs 15,000-crore
medical devices market in the country and curb dumping of substandard equipment
here.
"We are going to come up with a new legislation to enforce uniform and
effective standards throughout the country," Science and Technology Minister
Kapil Sibal told reporters here. He said the legislation will help India
regulate medical equipment from other countries. "Since 85 per cent of medical
equipments are imported in the country, some mechanism should be in place to
check the quality of equipment coming to the country," he said. Sibal said the
medical devices market in the country is worth Rs 15,000 crore and growing by 12
to 15 per cent per annum. He said the draft bill had already been prepared and
would be tabled in Parliament in the near future. The minister said the bill
proposed a regulatory authority that would seek to establish and maintain a
national system of certification relating to quality, safety, efficacy and
availability of medical devices.
(Ref: Economic Times dated September 21, 2007)
|
