Retail generic pharma chain Davaindia plans to expand its presence in Bengal from 75 stores to 200 stores over the next one year amid rising awareness for generic medicine.

Davaindia is a business vertical of NSE-listed Zota Healthcare. The Surat-based company is also engaged in the export of generic medicines from India.

“We have around 75 stores in Bengal and 14 of them are company-owned and operated. The plan is to take the number to 200 in the next 1 year with a mix of company-owned and franchisee-operated stores. Nationally, the number of stores is expected to reach 1,000,” said Sujit Paul, group CEO, Zota Healthcare.

According to data from the NSE, the quarterly gross merchandise value of Davaindia has increased from ₹23.24 crore in the third quarter of 2022-23 to ₹36.74 crore in the third quarter of 2023-24.

In addition to retail stores, the company also plans to expand its presence online in the coming months.

Paul said increasing the network is also key to increasing the availability of generic medicine in the remote parts of the country. He added that the company has generic medicines across categories ranging from diabetic, cardiac, nephro, gastro and geriatric. and it is expanding its presence to include generic drugs essential in oncology as well.

While awareness of generic medicine has increased, Paul said that there are still challenges relating to getting doctors to prescribe generic drugs.