SRL, the diagnostics arm of Fortis, has earmarked ₹400 crore for organic and inorganic growth, according to a top official.
"Currently, SRL has over 425 labs and 2,500 customer touchpoints and the plan is to set up another 70 labs and 1,000 touchpoints in tier-II and tier-III towns. It would call for an investment of about ₹200 crore," said CEO Anand K in an interview.
While the new customer touchpoints are expected to come up before end FY23, it would take at least one more year to set up its own labs. Most of the funds for these activities would be met through internal accruals.
SRL is also setting aside another ₹200 crore for acquisitions. "We are actively scouting for firms and are presently evaluating about 20-25 firms," he said.
Asserting that preventive health check up would play a major role in the future, he said that the diagnostic firm would focus on setting up new labs and touchpoints in tier-II and tier-III cities, so as to be nearer to the patients.
"We are already present in major cities and towns across the country. Moving to tier-II and tier-III cities is the next logical step," he said.
On Monday, the company opened its state-of-the-art reference laboratory in Chennai. It has the capability to conduct more than one lakh tests each month, ranging from the most routine tests to esoteric and genetic tests.
With this, SRL has six labs and 60 collection centres in Tamil Nadu. During the current fiscal, SRL would establish 200 customer touchpoints in Tamil Nadu, of which 60 will be in Chennai.
