BT to go beyond India IT, telecom sectors

HONG KONG: With an aim to tap the potential of the Indian pharmaceutical market, British Telecom (BT) is ready to invest in the pharmaceutical sector and has already initiated talks with a pharma major in the country.

Besides pharma, BT would be investing in financial services, manufacturing and media and entertainment, Allan Ma of BT Asia Pacific, said.

The firm already has a presence in the telecom and IT sectors in India. "There is a lot of potential here (in the pharma sector), Ma said. We are ready to invest in Research and Development and building hospitals and providing other infrastructure. We are already in talks with pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy regarding the same." Ma said that APAC is a huge market for BT. The company sees a growth rate of 115 percent Y-o-Y, whereas in UK, it is just 22 per cent.

"The market in UK has reached a saturation point, where as in the APAC, there is a lot of potential." He added that in last three years, BT has invested heavily in India. "India is an emerging market and we have a lot of expectations from it," MA said.

The company is also focusing on the enterprise market in India. Talking about the company strategy, he said that through aggressive marketing, they are going to make their presence felt in India.

(The author was hosted in Hong Kong by BT)