The store that was opened on November 01, 2014 in Goa's capital city is the first in a chain of retail pharmacy outlets branded "GAPL Medicentre" to be set up in hospitals and public places in the state.

HLL chairman and managing director Dr M Ayyappan said GAPL is in the process of scaling up its operations by supplying pharmaceutical products across the country.

GAPL has been successfully operating 24X7 pharmacy outlets in major government hospitals in Goa for more than a decade; this is the first store to operate in a public place. The uniqueness of GAPL is being 'holistic'. It offers a range of medicines across Allopathic, Homeopathic, Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani medical practices.

Located in the village of Tuem, Pernem in North Goa, GAPL provides employment to around 300 people in the locality. The company is targeting multi-fold growth in the next couple of years.

HLL acquired a 74 per cent equity stake in GAPL from the Government of Goa in March 2014. The Mini Ratna public sector enterprise under the ministry of health and family welfare, has already made its presence felt in the pharma industry by offering a basket of women's healthcare products. It has a strong distribution network, reaching out to over 30,000 medical professionals and over 3,500 hospitals in the country.

"We are enhancing the pharma manufacturing capabilities of GAPL to cater to the market potential. This is in tune with our diversification plans across the health segment, including project management consultancy, manufacture of vaccines, establishment of diagnostic centers and generic medicine outlets," said Dr Ayyappan.