Manappuram's big plans for healthcare and jewellery segments

KOCHI: Manappuram Group has big plans for its two subsidiaries Manappuram Health Care Ltd. and Manappuram Jewellery. Manappuram Health Care Ltd., operating under the brand name MAcare, is investing Rs 1000 crore in the next five years to set up a chain of medical and dental clinics and diagnostics centres across South India.

The group chairman V P Nandakumar said the company is targeting big and small towns. `` We intend to set up diagnostic centres in 15 major towns and about 50 smaller towns in South India,’’ he said. The company will shortly open a state-of-the-art diagnostics laboratory in Kochi. With an investment of Rs 20 crore in equipment alone, it will be the largest diagnostic laboratory of Kerala.

Manappuram Jewellery is also all set to expand. So far 12 showrooms have been set up in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the space of one year. Since the response has been encouraging, the company is planning to expand to over a hundred outlets by the year 2015 with a planned investment of Rs 3000 crore. Nandakumar also hinted at the likelihood of Manappuram Jewellery going for a public issue of shares by 2015.