Sri City, October 7, 2016:- Vermeiren India Rehab Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Belgium-based Vermeiren Group, inaugurated its manufacturing base in Sri City on Friday. Dr. Kamineni Srinivas, Minister of Health and Medical Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh, who was the chief guest of the inaugural ceremony, unveiled the plaque in the august presence of Dr. Bart De Groof, Consul General of Belgium in Chennai, Mr. Patrick Vermeiren, Chief Executive Officer, Vermeiren Group, Mr. Jan Van Herck. C.F.O. Vermeiren Group and Mr. Ravindra Sannareddy, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Sri City, and a host of other dignitaries.
The event commenced with the welcome address by Mr. Syed Riaz Qadri, Managing Director, Vermeiren India.
Addressing the gathering Dr. Srinivas said that he was very happy to inaugurate the Vermeiren unit, and was impressed with the excellent quality of wheelchairs they produce. “Now a days rehab care products such as wheelchairs are essentially needed not only by the disabled, but also by the elderly people as a mobility aid. With the presence of Vermeiren consumers have the choice of opting high quality products,” the Minister added.
Speaking on the occasion Mr. Patrick Vermeiren said that they have invested Rs.40 crores for setting up the plant. Stating that India is a very important market for them, Mr. Vermeiren mentioned,”We want to market our products at a reasonable cost.” He said,”The move for starting a production base in Sri City also fitted well with the the Make in India campaign. Sri City and Andhra Pradesh government are our strategic partners in our journey.”
Stating that Vermeiren products range has lot of relevance in India with a huge opportunity in different sectors, Mr. Ravindra Sannareddy said,”I took personal interest to ensure that Vermeiren comes to Sri City, and now we are very confident that its entry would result in the availability of high quality products at reduced costs locally.”
Dr. Bart De Groof said the Make in India call given by the Union government motivates entrepreneurs from Belgium to invest in India.
Mr. Jan Van Herck in his talk traced the origin, growth and the present status of the Vermeiren group. The unit, which is Vermeiren’s very first unit in India, has been set up on a 9-acre plot in the SEZ. The facility will manufacture rehabilitation equipment like manual wheelchairs. The present capacity of the plant will be about 30,000 wheelchairs per year. As the company is planning to go for plant expansion, by 2020 they would produce around 1,50,000 wheelchairs and 25,000 hospital. Besides catering to export, the unit will also meet the domestic demand as well. It will employ around 75 initially, and this number will go up to 250-300 employees by 2020.
Vermeiren Group, which established its production plant in Belgium in 1957, is a globally renowned brand in rehab care equipment. Sri City plant is its fourth plant. The group has specialised over the years in the manufacture of wheelchairs to hospital beds, shell chairs, comfort chairs and any other product that may accompany a patient or user in maintaining its autonomy and mobility. Today, Vermeiren is a group of more then 750 employees with subsidiaries in Europe and Asia and delivers products sold in more than 50 countries worldwide.