To strengthen its presence in the health care segment, diversified Religare group will be investing an additional Rs 300 crore for various activities, including its international diagnostics business.     

The group has envisaged a total investment of Rs 500 crore for diagnostics services firm Super Religare Laboratories (SRL) and health stores network Religare Wellness.     

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Religare Enterprises, which is mainly into financial services, is the flagship firm of the group.     

SRL would be opening its reference laboratory in Dubai next week. Varma said that the Dubai laboratory would see an aggregate investment of Rs 250 crore, of which Rs 100 crore would be pumped-in by Religare. 

"The SRL laboratory in Dubai would start with a capacity of about one million tests annually and that would increase three-fold in the course of next two years," Varma said.     

The company anticipates revenues to the tune of Rs 20 crore this year from the Dubai facility, which is expected to grow about 3-fold by 2011. Regarding the group's overseas plans, Verma noted that the Dubai initiative would help the entity in understanding the opportunities in the Gulf region.     

In due course, the group would gradually enter other Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC).     

Verma said the group is currently focussing on Asian health care market "because of the synergies in operation and we are also open to venturing in the US and European markets."     

In late 2008, SRL acquired a Dubai-based diagnostic laboratory — Mena Healthcare — taking its first step in overseas expansion.     

SRL acquired the laboratory, which has the capacity of conducting 25,000-30,000 tests per annum, for $20 million.     

SRL, which was earlier known as SRL Ranbaxy has one of the largest diagnostic chains in the country with 40 laboratories and over 850 collection centres.

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