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HLL Lifecare Steps Into Retailing Of Medical Devices
PUBLIC sector HLL Lifecare Ltd, which is emerging as a
full-spectrum healthcare company beyond its mainstay portfolio of
contraceptives, has ventured into the retailing segment to sell medical devices
and essential drugs.
The Kerela-based PSU has set up its first one-stop speciality
retail outlet, Lifecare Centre, at the Thiruvanthpuram Medical College Hospital,
in collaboration with the State Health Department recently.
The Outlet, setup in the Kerala MCH, will offer surgical
implants, surgical consumables, essential medicines, and many life saving drugs
at affordable rate to the public. In the first phase, orthopaedic implants and
instruments will be made available and later on, other devices and drugs will be
offered.
“HLL has been instrumental in bringing in many innovations in
the area of life sciences.”
The Lifecare Centre is first of its kind onestop specialty
retail outlet for medical devices and essential drugs in the country.
Apart from its wide range of contraceptives including female
condoms and pills, its portfolio now also included blood collection bags,
surgical sutures, auto-disposable syringes, in-vitro diagnostic test kits,
pharma products for women, natural products, tissue expanders, blood banking
equipment, transfusion equipment etc.
(Ref: The Chronicle Pharmabiz, October 06, 2011)
PC Puts Pharma, Medical
Devices As Priority Sectors For 12th Plan
The Planning Commission (PC) has
placed pharmaceuticals and medical equipment sectors as priority areas where
India is enjoying a definite competitiveness and having a higher potential to
contribute to the overall contribution of the manufacturing sector during the
next Five year plan period.
As part of preparing the plan
for the 12th Plan period, the planning panel has also listed the medium and
small scale sector, including all segments like pharmaceutical, as key drivers
for the growth and called for definitive pro-active policy changes to encourage
them.
Enabling of Institutes for MSME,
making access to capital and credit, providing support for technology and
productivity, assistance for marketing and production inputs, and development of
clusters have been suggested for the pharma medium scale and small scale sector.
The specific task force for the
pharmaceutical sector was evaluating the suggestions and demands forwarded by
the respective government departments, agencies and other stake holders. The
task force would soon submit the report incorporating the programs to boost the
sector during the next FYP period, source said, without further disclosing on
the schemes under consideration.
“SMEs provide the foundation for
manufacturing sector in all large manufacturing countries, whether Germany,
Japan, the U.S.A. or China. Even in India, SMEs have been a major contributor to
generation of employment within the manufacturing sector, and even to its
exports. India has rightly abandoned the approach of reserving sectors for its
SMEs and in its place it had adopted the more sustainable approach of nurturing
competitive SMEs. SMEs absorb technologies and improve their productivity most
effectively within Industrial cluster around larger enterprises, preferably
linked with technology institutes. A strategy for growing innovative and
competitive manufacturing enterprises , small as well as large one in India must
be there to simulate the growth of dynamic clusters,” according to the approach
paper by the Plan panel.
The Eleventh plan has targeted
growth in manufacturing at 10 to 11 percent but actual performance will be only
about 7.7 percent. It is a matter of concern that manufacturing sector has not
shared in dynamism of the economy not just in the 11th plan, but even in
preceding plan periods. As a result, the share of the manufacturing sector in
GDP is only 15 percent in India, compared with 34 percent in China and 40
percent in Thailand, it said.
(Ref: The Chronicle Pharmabiz,
September 08, 2011) |
