Tech Mahindra to set up healthcare unit with $94 million outsourcing deal

By Nivedita Bhattacharjee MUMBAI (Reuters) - IT firm Tech Mahindra Ltd is setting up a new unit to sharpen its focus on winning contracts in the healthcare industry, one of the fast-growing segments for the outsourcing services providers, a senior executive said on Wednesday. The unit, to be called nth dimension, has won an IT services project worth about 60 million pounds ($94.48 million) from Britain-based healthcare company CircleHealth, Tech Mahindra's Rajib Bhattacharya, who will lead the new subsidiary, told Reuters. "I think with this, in a few years' time we will be able to leverage opportunities globally," he said. Rivals like Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp and Infosys Ltd have also sharpened focus on the healthcare sector on hopes the implementation of the U.S. Affordable Care Act would boost outsourcing opportunities. Cognizant bought healthcare IT services provider TriZetto Corp for $2.7 billion in September. "Yes, we are actively seeking deals in the U.S. as well," Bhattacharya said. Under the new deal, Tech Mahindra, which gets about 10 percent of its sales from healthcare clients now, will develop technologies for patient care and operational delivery, and reduce costs for the U.K. firm, CircleHealth CEO Steve Melton said. CircleHealth runs private hospitals and services for the UK's National Healthcare Service. ($1 = 0.6350 pounds) (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Mumbai; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Louise Heavens)