Secom to open hospital in India

Japanese security and medical service provider Secom Company said Monday it will open a hospital in India in April 2013, becoming the first Japanese company to run a hospital in the country.

Secom set up a joint venture in April this year to run the planned general hospital in Bangalore, southern India, which will have nearly 300 beds and advanced medical technologies, such as computed tomography, a type of three-dimensional X-ray.

Secom will this month provide 40 percent of the capital in the joint venture, Takshasila Hospitals Operating Private Limited, to be capitalised at about 2 billion yen (around USD 25 million), with India's Kirloskar group taking up 34.6 percent and Toyota Tsusho Corporation , a trading unit of Toyota Motor Corporation, 25.4 percent of the remaining investment, Secom and Toyota Tsusho said in a joint statement.

The move is aimed at capitalising on growing local demand for medical care among middle- and high-income earners in India, whose economy has been showing robust growth.

Secom plans to have more hospitals in India and increase the total number of beds in its hospitals to around 20,000 in five to 10 years, company sources said.

In India, private firms are allowed to run hospitals, with a number of foreign companies having set up facilities there.

Secom, commonly known as a security services firm, provides medical services including nursing care and drug prescription in conjunction with 18 hospitals and clinics in Japan.