HLL Lifecare registers 36 percent growth

The Kerala-headquartered HLL Lifecare, a mini ratna public sector company, has paid a dividend of Rs.387 lakh to the government of India for 2012-13 as it registered 36 percent growth in the last financial year.

HLL (formerly Hindustan Latex Limited) clocked a record business of Rs.1,376 crore during the 2012-13 fiscal.

HLL Lifecare chairman and managing director M. Ayyappan presented the cheque to union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad at a function in New Delhi last week.

Explaining that HLL has now transformed into a healthcare delivery company after starting out as a single-product initiative, Ayyappan said that the company's growth strategy was driven by innovation.

"The HLL corporate research and development centre, the 60,000 sq ft state-of-the-art facility that started functioning here Jan 1 is an example of this growth story aided by innovation. The key focus area of the research centre will be reproductive health," Ayyappan said.

Elaborating on the firm's expansion plans, the CMD said the construction of the prestigious Rs.594-crore integrated vaccine complex, implemented by HLL's subsidiary, HLL Biotech (HBL) at Chengalpett near Chennai, is progressing per schedule.

"The total annual production capacity of condoms touched at 1,640 million pieces during the last year," he said.

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has rated the performance of HLL as "Excellent" for the third consecutive year.

HLL's range of products includes contraceptives, hospital products, pharmaceuticals, ayurvedic products, vaccines, personal hygiene products and diagnostic kits.

Its services include infrastructure development, procurement consultancy and facility management.

HLL was established in 1966 with the objective of providing quality condoms for the National Family Planning Programme.

HLL, from a single-product company, has transformed into a total contraceptive company and is now also active in the healthcare delivery sector.

At present, HLL has seven state-of-the art manufacturing facilities and 22 regional offices across India.