For this week’s edition of Hyderabond, The Pioneer contacted Kamal D. Shah, the co-founder of NephroPlus, who spoke about what the city means to him and discussed the transition the city has undergone as a result of the IT revolution.
PNS | Hyderabad
Kamal D. Shah is one of the brightest minds in the city. He is the co-founder of NephroPlus, which treats people suffering from kidney-related diseases. The company is spread across four countries and 192 cities. The Hyderabad-based company’s goal is to elevate the lives of people while providing the best treatment.
For this week’s edition of Hyderabond, The Pioneer contacted Kamal D. Shah. Born and raised in Hyderabad, the businessman is deeply rooted. In this interview, he spoke about what the city means to him and discussed the transition the city has undergone as a result of the IT revolution.
Talking about the city he grew up in, the Hyderabad-based businessman said, “I was born and brought up in Hyderabad. I finished my education and graduated from here. So, I’ve been here pretty much all my life. The company was founded in Hyderabad. We set up the first few centres in Hyderabad way back in 2009-10. The base has always been Hyderabad. We run the company from here. Both the founder and I were born and raised in this area. It’s our base.”
Pointing to the increasing levels of awareness about kidney-related diseases among people in the city, as well as the country, Kamal explained, “Not just in Hyderabad, but across the country, awareness about kidney disease and dialysis has been increasing at a rapid pace. Especially with the growth of the internet, people have much easier access to information and support for kidney diseases and other chronic conditions. Like everywhere else, awareness is rapidly increasing in Hyderabad.”
Kamal thinks the city has seen a rapid change over the last three decades. He told us that Hyderabad turned into a very modern city thanks to the IT sector. “Several decades ago, Hyderabad used to be a very laid-back city,” quipped Kamal. “Somewhere in the 1990s, before the IT revolution, ChandraBabu Naidu became Chief Minister and put Hyderabad on the global IT map. Ever since start-ups happened, the city has exploded in terms of growth. Now, with the growth of the IT sector, Hyderabad has turned into a modern city. People from around the world and the rest of the country are also moving to the city for jobs. It’s very different when we compare it to 20–25 years back.”
The co-founder discussed the core ideology that made it possible for NephroPlus to become the company that it is today. He said, “We started with one dialysis centre. Once somebody is diagnosed with kidney disease and put on dialysis, they think it’s the end of life. That’s not true. I’ve been on dialysis for the last 25 years, but I lead a completely normal life. Anyone on dialysis can live a completely normal life if they are receiving high-quality dialysis. That’s our vision, and that is what we support.”
He further added: “The vision hasn’t changed even when we had one centre or even today when we have 310 centres. We believe that dialysis patients need to be given a positive outlook. That’s the reason we don’t refer to our dialysis patients as patients, we call them guests because we don’t want them to think of themselves as sick patients. A dialysis patient doesn’t need to feel sick. They can live a normal life like any other person. That guest centric approach hasn’t changed a bit to date. We now have four locations and treat approximately 2 lakh dialysis patients each month. The DNA of the company did not change at all.”
On a lighter note, Kamal is no exception when it comes to avoiding the sight of city traffic. When we asked him about the one thing that he hates about the city, he said, “The traffic! More and more people are there, and probably the infrastructure is not able to keep up.”
