Medical-equipment maker Trivitron Healthcare plans to invest Rs 100 crore this year in expanding manufacturing capacity and acquisitions, as it looks to step up indigenous production.
The company, which received finance from a couple of private-equity funds in 2008, may also look at a second round of funding towards year-end.
The Rs 350-crore Trivitron owns a 25-acre medical-technology park at Irungattukottai, near Chennai, which beganoperations last year.
It can house 10 facilities.
The park currently operates one factory for manufacturing ultrasound and colour Doppler machines (under a joint venture with Hitachi Aloka).
Second facility
The second facility for in-vitro diagnostic reagents will start pilot production in October, and commercial production will start in January, said Dr G.S.K. Velu, Managing Director. Construction of the third facility (for modular operation theatres) has just begun.
The company also has a 70,000-sq.-ft facility in Chennai for manufacturing haematology reagents, ECG machines and modular operation theatres.
These will eventually shift to the larger Irungattukottai park.
Trivitron has another facility in Pune for X-ray machines (through the acquisition of Vision Engineering).
All these facilities account for only 20 per cent of Trivitron's portfolio — 80 per cent of its devices are imported.
Trivitron plans to reverse this in three years, with 80 per cent of manufacturing and innovation happening in India, “as our focus is to make healthcare more affordable and accessible”, says Dr Velu.
Eyeing acquisitions
Trivitron is on the prowl for companies and manufacturing facilities in Pune and Mumbai in Maharashtra and in Gujarat.
It is eyeing dentistry, cardiology, imaging and diagnostics businesses.
It is also interested in acquiring small and medium companies (with revenues of $5-20 million) in the US and Europe.
This will give the company a foothold in developed markets and also help bring their technology to India and other developing markets, said Dr Velu.
The domestic market accounts for 90 per cent of Trivitron's business.