HLL Infra Tech Services (HITES) was recently nominated officially as the construction and executing agency of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India. SN Sathu, CEO, HITES speaks on the role HITES intends to play in improving healthcare infrastructure in the country, its ongoing and forthcoming projects, its growth plans in the coming years and more, in an interview with Lakshmipriya Nair
What would HITES’s role as the construction agency for the Health Ministry involve? What services would it offer?
We will now serve as the Executing Agency of the Ministry in implementing various healthcare projects. This includes setting up AIIMS-like institutions, building super speciality hospitals and upgradation of various government medical college institutions.
HITES will partner the Ministry in correcting regional imbalances in providing affordable and reliable tertiary healthcare services, and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.
Besides infrastructure development, HITES will offer services including procurement consultancy, with experts helping the government procure a range of healthcare and hospital products, equipment and devices. HITES will also offer its expertise in the niche area of facility management, which covers a gamut of hard and soft services ranging from integrated building management and housekeeping to security and horticulture services.
How has HLL Lifecare, a contraceptives manufacturer, successfully diversified into an infrastructure development and procurement company?
HLL has traversed 50 eventful years to emerge as a well-recognised global brand in the area of contraceptives, hospital products and healthcare services.
At the core of our business is a deep commitment to help address serious public health challenges. HLL intends, therefore, to be a total healthcare solutions provider supporting every aspect of public health delivery.
Our success with the production and marketing of contraceptives and medical products and devices also showed us that we could replicate this efficiency and quality-consciousness in other areas of healthcare delivery; which is the reason why our diversification and expansion efforts have been equally successful. HITES is one such example.
There are very few who can offer the level of expertise we do in specialised infrastructure development, procurement and management specifically for the healthcare sector.
What are the opportunities which are unique to healthcare in the infrastructure space?
HLL was established by the Indian government with the express purpose of bringing high-quality healthcare products and services to the public at affordable prices.
With HITES, HLL has forayed into a very niche and specialised area with enormous potential. Healthcare is expected to become a $280 billion industry by 2020.
The Government of India has given well-deserved priority to the health sector and is investing in a big way to boost services and delivery.
There is a huge impetus on building quality healthcare infrastructure, establishing centres of medical excellence, creating smart and sustainable hospitals, the list goes on.
Around the world, health experts are recommending a shift from hospital-centric care to person-centric care. They are advocating green, smart hospitals with technology inputs such as telemedicine, social media and apps in healthcare. Hospital designs are centered on pre-engineered construction, green building with Griha ratings, patient safety and barrier free access, infection control, telehealth remote access, hybrid HVAC solutions, HMIS, queue management etc.
For HITES, this scenario offers a sea of opportunities.
How is HITES poised to leverage them?
HITES is India’s only total solutions provider in the specialised area of healthcare infrastructure — offering support from concept to commissioning. We are uniquely placed in the healthcare sector to offer comprehensive services; we design, build, procure, install and maintain both building and equipment.
HITES has a full-fledged design cell with proven expertise in healthcare infrastructure. We have a dedicated team of experienced and highly qualified professionals in varied fields including project and construction management, procurement, engineering, financial management, contract management and legal services.
HITES is also designated as a National Procurement Support Agency (NPSA). Our team undertakes consultancy assignments including bid process management, procurement of goods, as well as project planning and monitoring.
HITES focuses on timely execution of projects.
Which are the healthcare infrastructure projects that HITES has undertaken?
Since its formation in 2014, HITES has taken up projects for clients include the Government of India, state governments, government departments, public sector undertakings, corporations and institutions.
HITES has been entrusted with the upgradation of 12 government medical college institutions across the country.
We are setting up super speciality centres at all these institutions as part of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) at an outlay of Rs 960 crores.
We are also setting up 200-bedded mother & child hospitals for the UP government in Chitrakoot and Amethi.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has appointed HITES as Project Management Consultant for setting up the CDSCO Laboratory in New Delhi, and Chennai JIPMER has appointed HITES as consultant for setting up JIPMER-II off-site campus at Karaikkal.
The UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, has engaged HITES for setting up a 500-bedded cardiac hospital in the state.
HITES is also going global. It has been appointed as Project Management Consultant for strengthening of the health system in the Republic of Guinea under line of credit funding by the Government of India.
The MoHFW has assigned HITES to undertake pre-investment activities for the proposed new AIIMS in Bathinda, Punjab.
We are doing facility management work at AIIMS Patna and JIPMER Puducherry.
Have you earmarked certain areas (geographically) to focus on? What are the major challenges in the healthcare infra space that HITES would address and mitigate?
Right now, HITES has a pan-India presence through its various projects. We have regional/ sub regional offices in Noida/ NCR, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and an office is planned in Guwahati to take care of the North East region.
Having our registered office in Thiruvananthapuram, we have a strong presence in Kerala. We are now mainly focusing on South, North and Central India.
As for the challenges, being a new entrant in the infrastructure space we have had to compete in the open market to tap opportunities. Also, the entry of private players in the government sector has increased competition, but we have stepped up to this challenge by focusing on quality, reliability, cost-effectiveness and timely execution.
We also have a very strong accent on R&D and innovation. For instance, we have developed prototype design models for mother & child hospitals in various bed ranges.
What are the growth plans of the company for the next three years? What is the roadmap to achieve them?
HITES is in the process of expanding its business in a big way under the main four verticals, viz. infrastructure development, procurement consultancy, facility management and bio-medical engineering.
We have registered a turnover of approximately Rs 20 crores during the last financial year. We currently have business worth approximately Rs 5,000 crores with us and we are gearing up to become a Rs 10,000 crores company by 2020.
We are also offering a range of new value added services to our customers such as medical equipment maintenance, third party inspection, testing & calibration, specification portal, real estate (re-development of government lands), direct construction etc.
Our design wing is working on prototype models for various ranges of hospitals, so that the client can choose based on their requirement. We have a dedicated BD Team focussing on new business development.
In order to accomplish our long-term plans, we are in the process of strengthening our team. The HLL Management Academy has been engaged for conducting manpower study at HITES.
We are also setting up a one-of-its-kind EMI/ EMC testing facility in NOIDA, for testing of medical equipment for compliance with the medical devices regulations of the Government of India.
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