SastaSundar scaling up hybrid healthcare strategy

Kolkata, Mar 5 (PTI) Affordable healthcare platform SastaSundar is scaling up a hybrid model combining neighbourhood integrated health clinics, digital medical services and a wide pharmaceutical distribution network to expand access to low-cost healthcare, a company official said.

As part of this expansion, the company has opened its second JITO Health clinic in the city at Lake Avenue in south Kolkata, strengthening its community-based healthcare presence, he said.

The company is currently evaluating three operational models to expand its healthcare network — affordable retail clinics aimed at middle and lower-income households, philanthropic partnerships with NGOs where healthcare services may be subsidised or free for the poor, and a digital backend model that provides technology and supply chain support to institutions that have space but lack healthcare expertise, the official said.

"Our vision has always been to bridge the gap between quality and affordability in healthcare," SastaSundar founder and executive chairman B L Mittal said.

A major pillar of the company's strategy is its pharmaceutical distribution arm Retail Shakti, through which SastaSundar supplies medicines to around 65,000 retail outlets out of roughly 2.5 lakh pharmacy shops across West Bengal, Noida and Assam.

Mittal said the distribution business generates about Rs 100 crore in revenue per month.

In addition, the company runs an online medicine delivery platform called Health Buddy, which fulfils orders through about 250 stores and generates around Rs 25 crore in monthly revenue.

The supply chain is supported by a 1.25 lakh sq ft automated pharmaceutical warehouse in Kolkata that processes orders through computerised picking and packaging systems.

SastaSundar is also expanding beyond West Bengal with growing operations in Noida and the Northeast, including a new warehouse planned in Guwahati to meet rising demand in the region.

The integrated model combines physical clinics, digital consultations and an efficient medicine distribution network to improve affordability and access to healthcare, Mittal added. PTI BSM RG