Hindustan Latex to change name

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Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 18 : Hindustan Latex, broadbasing from contraceptives to family healthcare, is likely to change name. Considering the PSU’s shifting focus to women-driven lifecycle products, world’s largest manufacturer of condoms may even drop the ‘latex’ in its brand identity.

“Re-naming is in active discussion, although no new name is finalised yet,” M Ayyappan, CMD, Hindustan Latex Ltd said. “Since the new theme is somewhere between ‘innovating for generations’ and reaching the ‘bottom of the pyramid in villages’, it might be conceptually something between ‘future’ and ‘rural’,” he told FE.

The ‘Mini ratna’ is in the process of reinventing itself, targeting Rs 1,000 crore turnover by 2011. Last week, the company tied up with the New York-based philanthrophic venture fund Acumen Fund to set up a chain of low-cost high quality hospitals in the Lifespring brand in rural India.

In Chennai, in a 500-acre facility near NH-7, Hindustan Latex is coming out with the country’s first medical park in the organised sector. “A consultant to detail the Medipark infrastructure will be finalised this week,” Ayyappan said.

The Medipark is envisaged in PPP-model with about 30-35 medical equipment manufacturing units, including MNCs without manfacturing facilities in India yet. The anchor-customer, however, will be Hindustan Latex’s own Rs 100-crore vaccine business.