RIL plans Rs 25k cr healthcare initiative over 7-8 yrs

According to sources, Reliance Industries (RIL) plans a Rs 25,000 crore healthcare initiative over 7-8 years. The healthcare initiative will integrate with Reliance Retail foray, reports CNBC-TV18. 

Reliance plans to set up 1,500 healthcare units in B, C towns. But, Reliance officials have refused to comment.

This is one of the biggest plans that RIL has formulated on the lines of its retail foray. RIL has said that it will probably be able to effect a change in the existing healthcare scenario in the country. RIL plans to set up its own primary healthcare centres in B and C class towns, which will have all the facilities required by the locals to sell their goods. All this will be at the initial stage, but the final outcome is not known yet.

There is a pilot project, which is already under implementation at Jalandhar and it will replicate all the existing primary healthcare centres of the government, which probably don't give the right kind of service that is needed to service the healthcare needs of the rural population.

That is where Reliance is focusing and over the next 7-8 years, the plan is to invest up to Rs 25,000 crore in rural healthcare population. It goes hand in hand with what McKinsey has predicted that by 2015 the Indian healthcare market itself will become USD 20 billion, probably Reliance will play a massive role in getting to that figure.

Disclaimer: This is source-based information and has not been provided to the stock exchange.