Opto Circuits Ltd, the Bangalore-based leading electronic products and medical equipment firm, has secured another lucrative order to supply thousands of digital thermometers to Singapore for checking the menace of SARS epidemic.
Only last month, the Rs 32-crore (Rs 320-million) company made headlines for bagging a huge order from the US army to supply blood warmers in thousands for surgical use in treating victims of Iraq war, including the allied forces.
As the only Indian firm to make digital thermometers for export markets, Opto has been authorised to supply a million of them in the ensuing weeks to Singaporeans, who have been directed by their government to check body temperature before venturing out in a bid to prevent spreading of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
"We have started air-lifting the thermometers to Singapore in batches beginning Thursday, and we hope to ship about 100,000 by April 29," claimed Vinod Ramnani, managing director of Opto Circuits, referring to the initial order of Rs 12 crore (Rs 120 million).
Unlike the conventional clinical thermometer embedded with mercury, Opto's digital thermometer comes with a microprocessor chip and a thermistor for accurately measuring the body temperature quickly.
"Our product is quite user-friendly and free from any environmental fallout. As mercury is considered a pollutant and hence banned for use by several developed countries, including Singapore, regulatory authorities advise people to be armed with a digital thermometer," Ramnani stated.
Though Mainland China is the other Asian country, which manufactures such digital thermometers, its native production firms are unable to meet the growing demand for them, even as the dreaded pneumonia flu continues to claim hundreds of lives in their country, besides Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
"Ever since our marketing office in Singapore has been directed to source the product from our Bangalore facilities, we have been receiving inquiries from other countries in South East Asia. Because of our capacity constraints, we will not be able to meet the demand now," Ramnani averred.
The Singapore government has directed its health authorities to outsource the environmentally friendly digital thermometers from India as supplies from China dwindled due to shortage and increasing demand.
With no let-up in SARS spread either in China or Hong Kong, the Singapore government is going all out to prevent an epidemic in the island state, as few SARS cases have already been reported.
Priced between $2-20, Opto's digital thermometer is cheaper than those made in China or elsewhere. It also boasts of latest features such as memory and storage capacity to keep a record of the readings.
"Though our installed production capacity is about 400,000 per month, we are planning to expand it to meet the rising demand by investing Rs 10-20 million next month," Ramnani disclosed.
Incidentally, the listed company has also started supplying the digital thermometers to leading Indian corporate hospitals like Apollo in Chennai, Escorts in Delhi, and Wockhardt in Bangalore, as they can be used for monitoring the body temperatures of patients on regular basis.
Last year, Opto Circuits acquired the thermometer division of Hindustan Levers for expanding its product portfolio through the strategic route.