Chennai, India, Oct. 31 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Omron Healthcare Co. will hike the annual production capacity for home-use blood pressure monitors by 10 times at its first Indian plant for its mainstay products, President Ayumu Okada has said. The rise will take the capacity to 3 million units in a year at the plant in the southern city of Chennai, Okada recently told Jiji Press. The Chennai plant started operations in November last year with a single production line, shipping products for the Indian domestic market. Four more lines have been added to the plant so far. Most of the components are imported from Vietnam, but Omron Healthcare aims to procure them in India in the future. The unit of device maker Omron Corp. also plans to export blood pressure monitors through a port in Chennai in the medium to long term. Omron Healthcare has been expanding its market share for blood pressure monitors in India since it set up a local sales company in 2010. It is an industry leader in India with a population of over 1.4 billion, holding about 40 pct of the market. The number of patients with lifestyle-related diseases is increasing in India as the economy grows. An estimated 300 million people are believed to have high blood pressure. Okada emphasized that there is “strong potential demand” for the company’s products. “High blood pressure is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases,” she said. “We hope people will recognize that and take preventive steps by measuring (blood pressure) at home.” Okada stressed the need to raise public awareness of the importance of blood pressure monitoring in India, where less than 5 pct of households have blood pressure monitors. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
