Manipal Cure & Care (MCC), the Health and Wellness arm of Manipal Group, is all set to invest Rs 300 crore over a period of next three years which will give the pharmacy retail major a pan Indian presence. The company will invest around Rs 100 crore every year in the next three years and the funds will be raised through internal accruals
The Health and Wellness major is now gearing up to open its third and fourth outlets in Mumbai at two locations. While the third outlet is coming up at the Linking Road, Bandra, an up-market shopping area, the fourth facility will be operational at the Mega Mall at Oshiwara. The first outlet spans a carpet area of 7,500 sq.ft., while the second covers an area of 6,500 sq. ft. The company has invested Rs 4.5 crore for each of the outlets.
Currently, MCC has two outlets, one each in Bangalore at Koramangala and Ahmedabad at the Himalaya Mall and is looking at Hyderabad and National Capital Region (NCR) before fiscal 2009 along with increasing the number of outlets at existing locations in Ahmedabad and Bangalore. Thereafter, it will look at outlets across the country. "We will make all our expansions through internal accruals and look at good returns and then look at a company valuation based on sales turnover", Somnath Das, chief operating officer Manipal Cure & Care told Pharmabiz.
The manpower strength of MCC is 60 at each centre (400 total) and will increase to 700-1000 by the end of the year. The Health and Wellness centres are designed in two formats known as club-class and shop-in-shop class across malls, mega-cities, health cities, hyper markets and high streets. The preventive services are health checks and walk-in flexi checks for diabetics, cardiac, liver, HIV, lung and vaccinations.
The wellness services include immunizations, antenatal care, baby clinic, adolescent clinic, eye care, hormonal management, dietary counselling and sexual health advice. The outlets will have consultants from general medicine, dermatology, dentistry, paediatrics, gynaecology, ophthalmology, endocrinology and lab medicine among others. The business model has been conceived to offer an integrated mix of services and products in preventive, wellness and beauty along with a pharmacy under one roof, Das said.
This is first-of-its-kind in the country and possibly a one-of-its-kind in the world with comprehensive offering of services from immunization to drug abuse check.
It is also the first Health and Wellness company in India to receive the ACHSI (Australian Council on Healthcare Standards International) certificates. ACHSI has granted certification to MCC after a team of two surveyors did the pre-audit, followed by a team of surveyors who accessed 13 standards with 45 criteria covering clinical, support and corporate areas.