Konoike Transport to sterilize used medical equipment from Indian hospitals

Japanese logistics company Konoike Transport will launch a service in India to clean and sterilize used medical equipment from hospitals, leveraging its experience at home to tap into a growing overseas medical market.

Konoike will collect instruments such as forceps and shears through a local group company, and clean, pack and sterilize them before returning them to the hospitals they came from. With many hospitals in India not well-equipped to handle such processes themselves, outsourcing to a specialized company can ensure quality while also saving money.

The company aims to open sterilizing centers in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai by 2030, using them to provide cleaning services throughout India. It will consider setting up multiple facilities in a single city depending on the local transportation infrastructure.

Konoike expects to invest hundreds of millions of yen in the business, and targets annual revenue of 600 million yen ($3.9 million) by 2030.

In June, the company acquired SPD India Healthcare, a major Indian player in medical instrument cleaning with few local competitors. Konoike will initially use in-hospital sterilizing facilities and a center near Delhi operated by SPD before gradually expanding the business.

In Japan, Konoike provides a range of services for hospitals, including device sterilization. It also offers in-hospital logistical services, including management of pharmaceuticals and disposable products.

Its medical business is expected to generate 15.1 billion yen in sales this fiscal year, accounting for only 4.5% of the total but up roughly 10% from fiscal 2023. The rise is thanks to stable demand in a field requiring specialized expertise.

Konoike first began offering medical support services in India in 2013, creating databases of medical supplies, hospitals and doctors. Though it had planned to move into the equipment cleaning business soon after entering the market, this was delayed due to a lack of basic information and facilities.

India’s health care market is expanding with the growth of its middle and upper classes. Though the public is becoming more health-conscious, awareness of hygiene management at hospitals is still lacking.

“In the future, we’re thinking about working with partners, such as sterilization-related companies we do business with in Japan, to expand our India operations,” said Hideki Takami, who heads Konoike’s medical business. Nikkei Asia