A little late in the game, last month, Odisha government joined the states that have chosen to offer free diagnostics to people. Every time states say ‘free diagnostics,’ path labs sense a big opportunity. Which is why Dr Lal, SRL and other organised large pathology labs bid for the tender, confident in their chance to win. After all, they have the ability to conduct thousands of tests, keep the prices low and maintain quality in labs.
Except none of the large, publicly-listed companies that dominate major Indian cities won the bid. Instead, 10-year-old Techmed Healthcare walked away with the contract.