News: Tatas planning a tertiary hospital chain

(DNA 07/01/2007) Mumbai - Tata Industries is planning to set up a chain of superspeciality hospitals across India.

They would offer the best in medical treatment and comfort, and would put India on the map of advanced medicare.

A senior Tata official told DNA Money the group was examining mushrooming opportunities in healthcare, but had not firmed up any plan of action as yet.

Nationally, the plan of venturing into a super speciality hospital chain makes sense, as the involvement of corporate and private hospitals as health-providers have completely changed the concept of a modern hospital.

Hospitals have come up as big profit centres and are being recognised as an industry.

With the entry of private players, India is also becoming a significant player in healthcare tourism.

Industry reports suggest that international hospital chains are mulling an entry to stay competitive.

Global health insurance majors are also looking at ways to leverage Indian skills and low costs to increase profitability and stay competitive.

Already, Apollo Hospitals and Fortis Healthcare are in the process of uncorking huge expansion plans across the country to offer a viable alternative to government hospitals. Another big player in this field is Wockhardt which currently runs a cluster of super speciality hospitals in Mumbai and Bangalore dedicated to cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, ophthalmology and minimal access surgery.

In addition to this, some of the state governments have evinced interest in setting up Medicities in the same format as special economic zones.

In recent days, Tata Industries has picked up equity in Indigene Pharmaceuticals, a bio-pharmaceutical company with operations located in Boston and Hyderabad.

The group, with interests ranging from industries as diverse as computer software, steel, tea and salt announced its entry into pharma research last year, through Advinus Therapeutics.

It has, in the past, also picked up some equity in Bangalore-based agri-biotech firm Avestha Gengraine.

Tata Industries’ mandate was recast, in the early 1980s. Its new vision charted the holding company for the Tata group to promote the Group’s entry into new and high-tech areas.

Tata Industries over the last two decades, has initiated and promoted the Group’s ventures into several sectors, including control systems, information technology, financial services, auto components, advanced materials and telecom hardware.

In India cost of health care has increased tremendously in last few decades. Advanced technology, increasing knowledge and awareness among people about health are main factors for this change.

In this era of competition, each health provider will have to be cost-effective like other industries, so that they are able to provide the best service at least cost-attracting more customers.

For the Tatas, an entry into the superspeciality segment would make eminent sense because it has a rich legacy in the hospital sector.

It already runs The Tata Memorial Centre cancer hospital in Mumbai and one of the best cancer treatment and research centres in the country.

Recently, Tata Industries laid the foundation stone for the Rs 120 crore Tata Medical Centre in West Bengal.