Metropolis bags management deal for Seychelles lab

Metropolis Health Services, a chain of diagnostic labs, has been engaged by the Seychelles government for three years to upgrade and manage a diagnostic lab there.

Metropolis' payment is to have two components: a fixed sum and a variable sum based on efficiency yardsticks.

The Metropolis deal with the Seychelles government comes in the wake of Indian healthcare companies looking for opportunities to expand overseas operations without having to invest significant sums.

Apollo Hospitals in 2003 bagged a contract to help the Malaysian oil company Petronas design a super specialty hospital in Kuala Lumpur. Apollo aimed to move to managing the hospital once it is completed.

The Rs 40 crore Metropolis also manages a diagnostic lab in Ajman, UAE. At a press conference, G S K Velu, Metropolis' managing director, said that some of the samples from Seychelles could even be sent to its main lab in Mumbai for tests.

He declined to disclose the indicative revenue that would come from the Seychelles deal.Metropolis, along with other diagnostic chains such as SRL Ranbaxy, has begun looking for diagnostic work in the US and Europe that could be outsourced to a lower cost country such as India.

Both companies' facilities have been accredited by College of American Pathologists (CAP), a necessary step to source international business.

According to Ramdoss, diplomat and advisor to the ministry of health, Seychelles, the country provides universal healthcare.

Seychelles' annual healthcare budget is $ 35 million for its population of 80,000 people, he added.