30 Minute Iinterview

‘We have Evolved as the Lowest Cost Service Provider in CT Scanners’

Sanrad International (India) began its operations in 1994 with a single focus of providing affordable services for the upkeep of Toshiba CT scanner systems. Today, Sanrad is the pioneer in providing economic solution to its healthcare customers in India for their high-end medical equipment needs like CT scanners and MRI. The Company's current focus is on multi-slice CT scanners (16 Slice), Open Magnet MRI systems (0.3 T and 0.45 T) and digital radiography systems. Ratish Nair, Director of Sanrad International (India), Medical Electronics Division, shares his views about the growing medical equipment segment in India and future ventures of his company with Sonal Shukla. Excerpts

Ratish Nair Director of Sanrad International (India), Medical Electronics Division

What are the driving forces of the medical equipment segment in India and what is your company's contribution towards it?

Presently, India is seeing a boom in the medical industry and there is a lot of potential for growth in the medical services sector. Earlier, high-end medical equipment like CT scanners were considered unaffordable by smaller hospitals. However, in the past few years as the Government has relaxed the rules and allowed import of reconditioned medical equipment, this has put most of the high-end medical equipment within the reach of the smaller hospitals. An increasing number of diagnostic facilities are now available in smaller towns at affordable rates to the patients.

In 1997, when the import of reconditioned medical equipment was allowed, Sanrad started importing and installing factory reconditioned CT scanner systems at a very low cost of ownership to the end customer. We, at Sanrad, have progressed from installing axial CT scanners to spiral helical and now multi-detector CT scanner systems. In 2005, we designed and commissioned the first mobile CT scanner system in India which is the only one of its kind in the country. In 2007, we introduced permanent magnet open MRI systems which is again a low-cost solution in the field of MRI diagnostics. We are mainly focusing on reducing the cost of equipment and providing good quality equipment to our customers combined with affordable services at low cost.

Sanrad International (India) is now introducing permanent magnet MRI systems of 0.3T and 0.45T for the Indian markets. What is the advantage of such a product range in the market?

Permanent magnet open systems and super-conducting magnet closed systems are two types of technologies available in the world market for MRI systems today. The advantage of superconducting systems is that it is faster and comes in higher tesla range (0.5T to 3T), but on the flip side they consume liquid helium and have higher maintenance costs and are heavy on power consumption, hence it is preferred mostly only by multi-speciality hospitals in the larger cities. The permanent magnet open system on the other hand is low on maintenance and requires much less power. Therefore, they can be more suited to the Indian market where lower cost to patients is a powerful mantra. The existing permanent magnet MRI systems from various MNCs continue to be expensive and beyond the reach of the smaller towns. Our price point in this space is to address this vital need and put this important diagnostic tool into the hands of the doctors and hospitals in smaller towns.

What are you planning in the field of CT scanner and MRI systems?

Our immediate plans are to collaborate with international market leaders to assemble and manufacture permanent magnet MRI and digital radiography systems in India. This will reduce the cost of equipment and make them much more affordable to a much larger market. Our technical team has conducted their surveys and we have zeroed down on either Bangalore or Pune to set up our manufacturing facilities. Hopefully, we should be able to announce our plans in the forthcoming Indian Radiological & Imaging Association '08 Conference at Bangalore.

The company assures complete turn-key solutions. Kindly tell me about the projects done so far.

We provide total solutions for diagnostic needs of the customer. This consists of assessing viability of the project, arranging finances, selection of equipment, making suitable site plans, logistic requirements to run the set-up, reporting by doctors (through teleradiology). Sanrad has an installed base of 150 CT scanner systems.

How do you plan to tap the upcoming trends in the medical equipment segment?

We operate at the upper end of the spectrum, when it comes to high-end medical equipment sales and service in India. Two major obstacles to growth in this segment are high maintenance costs and availability of finance.

Sanrad has evolved as the lowest cost service provider in the CT scanner industry by utilising its indigenous expertise in repairs of these systems. As for finance, we have tie-ups with institutions like ICICI Bank to arrange for hassle-free loans at lower rates of interest to our customers. This combination of low maintenance and ready availability of finance has helped the customers to grow faster and provide such high-end diagnostic facilities to patients easily.

How well is the company equipped to provide the needed technology support to its healthcare clients?

Sanrad has been updating and training its engineers regularly at various facilities abroad on the latest trends and technologies. We also have application specialists to train doctors and technicians at customers site on usage of our systems. Various software upgrades released by the manufacturer from time to time are provided free of cost to customers. Sanrad has its training center in Mumbai where customers and technicians can avail live training on the latest equipment and techniques in the diagnostic imaging field.

With after-sale services for medical equipment being an area of concern in the Indian healthcare industry, what role is played by the company to address this?

Sanrad's growth in the field of medical diagnostic imaging has been primarily due to good quality service and as said before, we are the lowest cost provider of maintenance services in the CT scanner market. Many customers who buy the CT scanners from elsewhere also seek our expertise and advise for the post warranty maintenance of their systems. We maintain a large inventory for providing ex-stock spare parts immediately to our customers. We are also the largest stockist of CT scanner parts in Asia.

What are your future plans?

Presently, Sanrad has its major operations in Western and Southern parts of India and we plan to expand our infrastructure and manpower resources to start operations in other cities of the country. Sanrad is presently in discussion with international manufacturers for collaborations for setting up a manufacturing base in India. We are very close to signing a couple of MoUs for the same. Our next phase will see us commence operations in Chandigarh, Kolkata, Delhi and Jaipur. We want to set up a pan India network for providing sales and service for all our products. Our manufacturing plans will cater primarily to the Indian market and our goal thereafter is to cater to international markets like Sri Lanka, Middle East countries and other nations.

sonal.shukla@expressindia.com