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Disposable income is risingand healthcare in the east isfast developing into a region

driven by the need for technologyand quality services. It is against thisbackdrop that CII (Confederation ofIndian Industry) Eastern Regionorganised the 4th EvolvingHealthcare Investment Landscapeon June 18 in Kolkata. The Evolving

Healthcare Investment Landscapeis a forum, which, since its inceptionhas been instrumental in sensitisingthe scope of private equity (PE),venture capital (VC) and angelfunding in the healthcare space ineastern India, particularly WestBengal.

The inaugural plenary wasgraced by Dr Shashi Panja, minister

of state, Health and Family Welfare,West Bengal, who said that thestage is set for private investors.Mentioning how healthcare is ac-cessible, affordable and sustainablein West Bengal like never before,Dr Panja drew special attention tothe child and woman social devel-opment sector and also urged CII toplay the role of a facilitator.

Earlier, setting the tone of theconclave, Sanjay Prasad, chairman,CII ER Healthcare Subcommittee,said, “The challenge is to provideentrepreneurs with the right intel-lectual capital so that they are ableto proceed with funding abilities.This initiative by CII brings investors,end users, hospital chain owners,

stand alone hospital owners and allkinds of healthcare providers underone roof which would translate intoeffective investment decisions.”

T V Narendran, chairman, CIIEastern Region, described India asan evolving destination for invest-ment. The demand for specialisedquality healthcare services is drivennot only by the swelling middle-class in big cities but also from tier IIand tier III cities across the region.Narendran also spoke of CII’s initia-tives such as conducting a modelcase study on the status of tubercu-losis in Haryana, efforts to identifyareas at the national level where

the private sector could comple-ment government efforts, and cre-ation of the Healthcare Sector SkillCouncil.

C S Ghosh, MD & CEO, BandhanBank, said, “ Organisations shouldalso take up CSR activities that pro-mote medical awareness amongpeople. Infrastructure and indigeni-sation of medical devices need at-tention as well.” He also spokeabout the need for tax exemptionfor small entrepreneurs to helptheir projects become viable.

Dr Rupali Basu, vice chairper-son, CII West Bengal, stated,“Eastern region has witnessedmore than ̀ 450 crore private equi-ty investment in the healthcare do-main. The requirement now is to tryand connect them with relevantfund houses or advisory houses.”Sean Sovak, MD, Light House Fund,spoke of making an impact in thehealthcare sector which has prom-ising domestic & export markets.Also present was KaushlendraSinha, regional director, CII East andNorth East. The session concludedwith a vote of thanks by RupakBarua, group CEO, AMRI Hospitals.

CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE

PANELISTS FOR THE DAY

DR RUPALIBASU

RAGHAVKANORIA

C S GHOSH

RAKESHGOYAL

RUPAKBARUA

VAMESHCHOVATIA

DR SAHABATAZIM

SAMIRAGARWAL

VRINDAMATHUR

MAHADEVANNARAYANAMONI

SEAN SOVAK

ABHISHEKKABRA

SUNIL THAKUR

SANJAYPRASAD

DR RANAMUKHERJEE

SRIKRISHNARAMAMOORTHY

T V NARENDRAN

AYANABHDEBGUPTA

SESSIONS

(L-R) Rupak Barua, Dr Rupali Basu, Sanjay Prasad, Dr Sashi Panja, T V Narendran, C S Ghosh, Sean Sovak and Kaushlendra Sinha

Private Capital, Public Health

Meeting of Minds

JUNE 18, 2016 l KOLKATA

The 4th edition of CII Evolving Healthcare Investment Landscape highlighted the opportunities and challenges in private equity, venture capital, debt and angel funds in the healthcare sector in eastern India

The third plenarywas all about strate-gies healthcare units

could adopt while utilis-ing PE, VC, debt and im-pact utilisation funds.Moderator Samir Agarwal,MD, INDCAP, emphasisedthe need to invest in tech-nology and brand visibili-ty. SrikrishnaRamamoorthy, partner,UNITUS Seed Fund feltthat customers are ulti-mately, the best investors.Raghav Kanoria, co-founder, Calcutta AngelsNetwork, stressed the im-portance of technology intoday’s business scenario

as one of the key factorsfor investment decisions.According to him, sincethe quality of entrepre-neurship in the east isgood, the region will at-tract greater volume of in-vestments soon.

While seeking fundsentrepreneurs need tokeep in mind that thereare different kinds of in-vestments available fordifferent stages of busi-ness. Figure out the eco-comics, clarify the basicconcepts of funding, focuson good products andservices and you are goodto go!

The first plenary was allabout diverse funding op-portunities in healthcare.

Moderator Dr Rana Mukherjee,MD, Mediplanners, commentedthat in 10 to 15 years from now,healthcare sector will undergo asea change. Vamesh Chovatia,partner, Healthcare Fund, TataCapital Fund, highlighted keyemerging themes like local pro-duction of medical equipment,e-pharmacy and digital health-care system, telemedicine andanalytics that would bridge theurban-rural divide. MahadevanNarayanamoni, director, TPGCapital, said that upgradation ofinfrastructure is key to success.Sunil Thakur, director and COO,Quadria Capital, felt that with

privatisation, eastern India issoon turning into a popular des-tination for investors allowingcross-pollination of best prac-tices in healthcare. Touchingupon the changing nature of PE& VC funding, he pointed outhow clear alignment on exitswith strategic sales as a clear op-tion are setting gears in invest-ment calls. Abhishek Kabra, VP,Samara Capital, highlighted howcorporatisation, consolidationand brand building are gatheringpace. With molecular diagnos-tics, social media, mobile clinicsand home based healthcareservices gaining momentum,there is a high investment ap-petite for innovative businessmodels.

The second plenarycovered the difficul-ties regional players

face in accessing funds.Recounting the experienceof setting up a green-fieldproject with private fund-ing, Ayanabh Debgupta,director, Medica SuperSpeciality Hospital, saidusing a diverse workforceleads to implementationof better practices, thusimproving services.

According to SeanSovak, MD, Light HouseFund, it is the scalabilityfactors with an acceleratedgrowth path that investorslook for.

“People who have hada growth path in life aresometimes better suited intaking businesses for-ward,” said moderator DrSabahat Azim, founderand CEO, GlocalHealthcare. Investors lookfor a credible businessmodel and not necessarilyB school tags in buddingentrepreneurs.

Finally, Rakesh Goyal, di-rector, investment bank-ing, Yes Bank and VrindaMathur, partner, GrantThornton India, confirmedthat investors’ interest ineastern India’s healthcaresector is growing rapidly.

Inputs by Basav Bhattacharya

Opportunities galore Profitable healthcare Growing strategies

(L-R) Sunil Thakur, Vamesh Chovatia, Dr Rana Mukherjee,Mahadevan Narayanamoni and Abhishek Kabra

(L-R) Dr Sabahat Azim, Vrinda Mathur, Rakesh Goyal,Sean Sovak and Ayanabh Debgupta

(L-R) Raghav Kanoria, Samir Agarwal and SrikrishnaRamamoorthy

The WestBengalgovernmentwill remainunwavering inits commit-

ment to providing qualityhealthcare for all, especiallyto the poor. Please partnerwith the state and be assuredof complete cooperation and full support from us.

DR SHASHI PANJA, minister of state for Health andFamily Welfare, Government ofWest Bengal

Investment opportunities inthe healthcare sector in theeast have increased signifi-cantly and the sector isexpected to be one of themost attractive investmenttargets for private equity andventure capital companies.

SANJAY PRASAD chairman, Healthcare Subcommittee, CII EasternRegion & President & CEO, Mission of Mercy Hospital &Research Centre

Tier II and tier III cities would be the next chapter of development in healthcare in India.

DR RUPALI BASUvice chairperson, CII West Bengaland president & CEO, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals (East)

We assure all of our supportin the state government’sendeavour towards ensuring‘Health for All’.

KAUSHLENDRA SINHAregional director, East & NorthEast, CII

With the help of PE funding,smaller companies can lookat a larger market, andincreased scope of operations.

RUPAK BARUA co chairman, CII healthcare subcommittee, eastern region &Group CEO, AMRI Hospitals

The growth rate in smallcities is estimated to be ashigh as 15 to 20 per cent by2023 compared to 10 to 15 inthe metros and large cities.The return on investments inhospitals in tier III cities isalmost double of those in atier I city.

TV NARENDRAN, chairman, CII eastern region and MD Tata Steel ltd.

THE ECONOMIC TIMES, KOLKATA, THURSDAY, 23 JUNE 2016

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