Wipro GE Healthcare, a joint venture between Wipro and global conglomerate GE`s healthcare business, has announced that all the standalone units and plants of GE Healthcare in India would be integrated into a single entity “The Wipro GE”.
GE holds 51% stake and the rest is with (Q,N,C,F)* Wipro in their joint venture, Wipro GE Healthcare, which distributes 85% of GE`s various healthcare and medical diagnostic products in India.
The integration will simplify the structure and help us focus on the Indian market. It will help us in developing new products for India and in entering more markets.
Wipro GE Healthcare will now incorporate units like GE Healthcare Life Sciences, GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics and GE Medical Systems India.
About 20% of the products sold in India are manufactured here and in future the company wants to increase the percentage.
GE, whose healthcare unit is best known for advanced imaging systems such as CT-scan machines, said in May it planned to invest USD 3 billion in research and development, with a primary focus on making its products less costly to buy and operate.
GE Healthcare which clocked revenue of USD half a billion in 2008 is looking at a `double digit growth` this year. GE`s rivals in medical imaging include Philips, Siemens AG and Toshiba Corp. GE Healthcare`s global unit last year earned USD 2.85 billion on revenue of USD 17.39 billion.
General Electric on May announced that it will spend USD 6 billion between now and 2015 on innovative healthcare technology, from portable ultrasound machines to low-cost X-ray equipment.