Vijaya Diagnostic plans to open 10 centres every year

Hyderabad: City-based Vijaya Diagnostic Centre on Friday announced its plan to add eight to 10 centres across existing and new States every year. The diagnostic brand will be also looking at tier 2, 3 cities for growing, both organic and inorganic, over the next two years.

The brand disclosed its expansion plan during the announcement of installation of Open MRI machine “Aperto Lucent,” by Fujifilm India, at one of its diagnostic centre in Hyderabad.

“We are looking at expanding. We have started our journey in Maharashtra and West Bengal. Every year we have been adding eight to 10 centres, as the city grows we will also grow. We have acquired one centre in Pune and we are open for acquisitions as it is in our growth plan. We see demand in tier 2, 3 cities too, so we will open new centres in these cities over the next two years. We register 10,000 patients a day across the centres we are present,” Chief Operating Officer of Vijaya Diagnostic Centre Sheshadri Vasan said.

Currently Vijaya Diagnostic Centre has over 90 centres in Hyderabad, 125 in both the Telugu States and overall 140 centres across India, which also includes Haryana, Gurugram, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. Vasan informed that depending upon the size of the centre and technology installed, the investment for setting up a centre ranges from Rs 3 crore and goes upwards to Rs 25 crore.

Commenting on higher pricing for tests quoted at Vijaya Diagnostic, Vasan said, “We do not compare our pricing with others as maintaining quality has been on the forefront for us. At this point of time we have not mulled on reducing the pricing as it depends upon many other factors such as the input cost.” Further adding on the strategy behind adding new centres, he said, “We expand to new pin codes to make sure that new patient base expands. It all depends on the business plan, which market is growing and how we look at expanding our footprint. We are an integrated player and our strategy includes radiology and pathology so we have seen growth in this area and we will continue to invest and grow in this area.”

To make systems and solutions affordable, Japan-based Fujifilm Holdings wholly-owned subsidiary Fujifilm India has been mulling on setting up its manufacturing facility and research and development centre in India, for a while. Commenting on the same, Chander Shekhar Sibal, Sr Vice President, HOD – Healthcare Business, Fujifilm India, said: “It will take two to three years for Fujifilm India to set up its manufacturing facility and software development in India. Right now we can comment on the State under consideration but discussion with the government authorities is under process. We will Make in India for exporting them to other countries.”