India’s medical device major Opto Circuits has planned an investment of around Rs 150 crore for its next phase of expansion. The proposed investment will be for a production centre in Malaysia and for a Greenfield project at Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Nanjungad in Mysore.

“Our focus will be on the emerging markets and India is the centre of action going by its market potential and manufacture-research capability,” stated Vinod Ramnani, chairman and managing director, Opto Circuits.

In this regard the company will also look to augmenting its current strength from 1,500 to 2,000 by the end of this fiscal and eventually double the workforce as projects consolidate. The Malaysia facility is expected to be commissioned in a few months and the Mysore unit for exports of all non-invasive products will be by April 1, he added.

The entry into Malaysia is part of the company’s emerging market strategy and the need for an alternative location for production was mandated to move away from the dependence on a single site, stated the Opto Circuits chief.

Malaysia now offers for technology manufacture initiatives a 10 year tax relief. The company will invest Rs 45 crore (US$ 10 million) for the project. Eventually, Opto also intends to drive its research and development efforts from there.

The 18-year-old company which has grown primarily through the inorganic path made a landmark acquisition of EuroCor, Germany in 2006 for Drug Eluting Stents, bare metal and coated balloons. Of its over 95 products in the non-invasive all of which are on the upside in terms of sales. Opto is ranked third in India after Abbot Vascular and Meditronics.

The recent acquisition of NS Remedies early this year has taken the company to the next level of growth and helping to cut costs of technology development by 30 to 40 per cent. Going by the healthcare technology adaption, the current market for medical devices globally is estimated at US$ 16 billion. India market is around US$ 7 billion growing at 8 to 10 per cent annually.

India is viewed as potential market going by the increasing number of hospitals rise in patient population. The key challenge here for medical device companies is the support infrastructure for advanced production plants. This is where Opto Circuits with its drug eluting stent and coated balloon facility under the EuroCor arm along with its plants in India and Malaysia is hopeful of circumvent the issues with its multi- location initiatives.