Still bullish on India growth story: Rajiv Bhalla of Barco India
The display technology firm reckons that India's under-penetrated market for cinema screens and under-served market in healthcare provides huge opportunities for growth of the company
Rajiv Bhalla, managing director of Barco IndiaImage: Barco India
Display technology firm Barco India, a subsidiary of Belgium-based Barco NV, is betting big on the new year to drive growth. It says the massive headroom for growth in India is keeping the company optimistic. Rajiv Bhalla, managing director of Barco India, which operates in entertainment, enterprise and healthcare, points to the under penetration of cinema screens in the country compared to the global average, and also the dismal doctor-patient ratio in India as opposed to the WHO-prescribed 1:1000 limit. These, he believes, “Are huge growth opportunities for us,” he told Forbes India. Despite the macro-environmental challenges, he lets on, Barco is still bullish on the India growth story and the opportunities that it provides the company. Edited excerpts from an interview with Forbes India.
Q. How was the growth been last year?
Barco India has seen double-digit growth since 2016 and we are looking forward to maintaining the momentum this year. The slowdown in the country’s growth rate vis-à-vis last year can be attributed to the drop in spending by various government departments and large corporates. In recent years, we have steadily evolved from being a tech ‘specs’ vendor to a partner that delivers bright outcomes. We have a strong focus on R&D and innovation, and also plan to leverage digital technologies to create substantial value to complement our market-leading hardware solutions with the required software and services.
Barco caters to three major verticals—entertainment; enterprise & healthcare—and we expect to see continuous growth across these segments, especially given the under penetration in the Indian market. According to industry reports, India has one of the world’s lowest cinema screen penetrations at around six screens per million as against an ideal of 15 screens per million people. In the healthcare space, studies maintain that the doctor-patient ratio in India is lower than the WHO-prescribed limit of 1:1000, and given these statistics, these are huge growth opportunities for us, despite the macro-environmental challenges. Barco is still bullish on the India growth story and the opportunities that it provides us.
Q. What has been the biggest learning and mistake in 2019?
At Barco, we see every challenge as an opportunity and every slowdown as a trigger to course correct, sharpen our core competencies and relook our Go-To-Market strategies. In 2019, besides learning to “Think with the customer”, we realized that it is necessary to “Team up together” to win globally. There are multiple integrators that sell across continents and the customer now wants identical, if not better, levels of service and support and we aim to provide the same. We have also learnt that the customer is now looking for an outcome instead of only a product and is willing to pay a premium if their requirements are understood and met. Barco has learned that in today’s fast-paced, digital world, innovation and agility are more important than ever.
Q. Cinema constitutes 43 percent of your business. Can the OTT explosion impact it as people cut down on going to theatres? Do you think cinema can survive OTT onslaught?
Though OTT is repositioning the realm of media and video communications, if you look at it organically, each platform offers a different opportunity. While we see the OTT platforms pushing user-specific content for easy home viewing, cinema-going experience is something that cannot be replicated or replaced.
OTT platforms is strong competition but large multiplex chains continue to increase screens and offerings. Right from the time you enter the theatre’s lobby, you get an immersive experience—from the concessionaire to digital signage, to the movie experience itself, using Barco’s laser projectors.
