New SBU Zera To Take Products To Over 400 Districts

HIMALAYA Drug Company, arguably among the most valuable privately- held healthcare companies, is set for a bigger push into rural markets with the launch of a new strategic business unit (SBU) for expanding into smaller towns and hinterland districts.

The development at the Rs 600 crore herbal healthcare major comes as rural share of India’s pharma market, pegged at Rs 31,000 crore, has risen to 21% from 18% in 2005. A McKinsey report published last year suggests that small towns and rural centers will be contributing as much as metros and to- tier cities in pushing the domestic pharma growth by 2015.

The new division –Zera- will take Himalaya’s products to doctors in wee over 400 districts up from around 250 districts that are covered currently. The move is expected to see the company’s operations tracking at least 30, 000 new medical practitioners in the hinterland markets.

Philipe Haydon, chief operating officer (pharma division) at Himalaya Drug, said the company will be almost doubling the strength of field representatives to 2000 in the next three to four years as it goes for the tier-II push.

“ The increasing disposable income and access to better healthcare facilities will see the pharma growth being swayed by the rural story over the next decade. We hope that a significant part (10-15%) of our projected 30% CAGR over the next five years will come from small towns are rural centers,” Mr Haydon told ET .

The latest move to divizionalise further, reflecting the growing importance of the rural pharma market, marks a new strategic outlook for the company, which streamlined market presence based on doctor specialty till now. The new rural marketing SBU will work exclusive from the three existing ones- Zera, Zandra and Zindel.

“ We need to divisionalise further to expand the coverage of Himalaya products across the country. With the launch of exclusive rural division, we are working towards the objective of putting one Himalaya product in every domestic household,” Mr Haydon said. Unlike the new rural unit, Himalaya’s existing divisions works on specialty based promotion of products aimed at better connect at clinic level. The three divisions carve up the work to ensure adequate visibility for all products in a highly competitive urban market.

For instance, Zera caters to general practitioners, surgeons and pediatricians, while Zandra is focused on gynecologists, physicians and orthopedists. Zindel is targeted at general physicians and pediatricians for pushing pure herbs, which mostly falls under OTC range, and babycare products.

On the other hand, the rural segment is still relatively untapped by the rival heavy weighs and Himalaya’s product range is suitable for rural markets, the company official added.