With focus on interactive and innovative products, every merchandise
offered by the $24-billion (roughly Rs. 1,59,454 crores) Dutch healthcare and consumer electronics
giant Royal Philips has a "Made in India" component, thanks to its two
centres of excellence in the country, say top officials.
"Bengaluru
for us is the focal point for both healthcare and consumer lifestyle
businesses. Pune is also doing some great work," Pieter Nota, the
executive vice president and leader of Philips HealthTech vertical, told
IANS at IFA-Berlin, the largest consumer electronics show in Europe.
Nota
said renewed focus was also being given to the lighting business in
India, given the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's 100 Smart
Cities project, and also to ensure that products are available to people
at affordable price points. Air purifiers was another focus area.
"Since
September last year, we have been focusing on three areas - healthcare,
consumer lifestyle and lighting. We also have a lot of focus on
mobility. Software plays a very key role in that. So all our
mobility-related products have a connection with Philips Innovation
Centre at Bengaluru."
The reference was to the sprawling campus at
Bengaluru called the Philips Innovation Centre, that has over 2,000
engineers, medical professionals and researchers giving support to
virtually every vertical of the parent company.
"It is the focal
point for both our healthcare and consumer lifestyle businesses," said
of this campus, which also contributes significantly to the company's
India revenues of around Rs. 6,500 crores ($1 billion).
It serves as
the top brain banks along with the High Tech Campus at Eindhoven in the
Netherlands and Research Shanghai in China. This apart, its Pune
Development Centre is among six main units facilities worldwide and
contributes on healthcare, while that at Noida works on lighting.
"I
can't go into specific numbers. But what I can say for sure is that we
have significant growth ambitions, both professional healthcare and
consumer businesses. Also, if you look at the global economy, India is a
very positive exception. India is one of the stars," he said.
"So
we are looking at both consolidating and expanding our operations in
India - in healthcare, beauty, grooming, beauty. Our consumer products
business, after a couple of years of stagnation is doing exceptionally
well.
Nota - who launched a host of products across verticals
here - conceded that some of the Philips offerings in India notably in
healthcare range were priced a bit too high for the Indian market,
especially since the health insurance in India did not generally cover
many such items.
"I understand that in India there is no medical
reimbursement of these products. But we are, of course, developing
products at the right price points for India. Pune is quite helpful
there and Bengaluru is the centre of support for all out products."
The
top Philips executive said since air quality was a serious issue in
India - and with latest studies showing pollution levels inside homes
much higher than outside for a variety of reasons -- air purifiers were
also an area of focus.
Nota did not wish to comment on the group's
plans in the LED lighting business as it was outside his domain but
said the global chief executive for this vertical, Eric Rondolat, had
met Prime Minister Modi just last week and pledged support for India's
initiative in this area.
Philips officials at the event here said
there was interest in all the three related initiatives of spelt out by
the government - the "Make-in-India", "Smart Cities" and "Solar
Lighting". Nota added: "This meeting was very important. There are
significant opportunities for us in India."
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