Hopes hinge on better margins for pharma & higher volumes for healthcare in ‘Samvat 2080’

financialexpress.com:

In the lexicon of the Indian bourses ‘Samvat 2080’ is more than the traditional Hindu accounting year beginning today. As always, there is a renewed air of anticipation as the bourses herald the new Samvat with their decades-old practice of  Muhurat (auspicious hour) trading. Post the pandemic, while the businesses have rebound with airlines, hotel-chains, cab-hire outfits getting busy, hospitals are also seeing increased footfalls with patients preferring a physical meet with the physicians than over a zoom call and other health  needs that took a back seat during the pandemic getting priority. What then is the outlook for the pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare providers.

 Many in the pharma world today talk of a year ahead that will see the expansion of the domestic pharmaceutical market aided by factors driving focus back to chronic ailments (like hypertension, diabetes and cancer) in addition to push towards higher insurance cover. Some of the leading Indian pharma companies with better cash reserves and choice of therapeutic areas could also see expansion in global footprint. 

“The pharmaceutical industry is expected to see a recovery driven by scope for higher gross margins. This are being led by one, an ability to increase prices in the India business and two, snarls in input supplies from China easing and raw material prices slipping,” says Aditya Khemka.

 The fund manager at InCred Asset Management and a leading pharma and healthcare analyst who has tracked the sector over the past two crucial decades, says, while the domestic price increases would vary from one company to another, it has been overall at around 6 to 7 per cent in the current year. However, the raw material input supplies from China have