Prefer pharma stocks, says Dipan Mehta

Dipan Mehta, Member at BSE & NSE told CNBC-TV18, "Apollo Hospitals after having been around for so many years, they had a good time. They delivered on lot of parameters maybe 5-10 years ago or so but last two-three years have been stagnant and the competitive intensity within the sector is increasing.""There are many small players also which tend to get the market share and the most important aspect is that the return on investment like the hotel industry is on the lower side and no doubts Indians are spending more on healthcare but that to get reflected in the hospital shares, we have to yet see that.""So our view is generally neutral to negative on the medical industry per se and the better way to play that in rising spending on healthcare would be to buy Indian pharmaceutical companies or even the MNC pharma companies which have got strong brands in the Indian pharma industry which is doing well.""Last two-three quarters we have seen double digit growth as far as Indian pharmaceutical sales are concerned. So the better way to play the healthcare industry would be through pharma companies and not the hospital stocks," he said.