Goa made a strong showing at the recent Council of State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation of India (COSIDICI) 2025, national awards held in Vishakhaptanam, with five Goan entrepreneurs bagging awards.
Among the winners was Sweta Vishwaraj Mhalshekar, whose enterprise Siddhivinayak Occupational Health Services, Ponda, was judged the best in the service sector.
A first generation entrepreneur, Mhalshekar has an impressive academic resume. She is a Bachelor of Engineering, a post graduate in business administration as well as an Mphil in management studies. Post education she became a college professor.
After few years of teaching she developed a keen interest in having her own business and aspired to become an employer from an employee.
“The business idea of setting up an occupational health centre was created looking at the industry needs. I assessed the market and immediately implemented my entrepreneurial plans,” says Mhalshekar. But before establishing the centre she acquired technical knowledge by perusing international training in occupational health and safety from NEBOSH, an UK based examination board.
Mhalshekar says, her enterprise aims to be a premier provider of quality corporate healthcare and diagnostic services on par with global standards at affordable price.
The business is an ISO certified company registered as a MSME and an empanelled occupational health laboratory with the Inspectorate of Factories and Boilers, Goa. It is also a certified pathological diagnostic centre under the Clinical Establishment Act.
As per the new labour laws, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code 2020, annual health check-up is mandatory during pre-employment for all working employees.
“We set up our first unit in Ponda, by availing loan under the PMEGP scheme from the department of industries, trade & commerce (DITC) in 2016. With help of the EDC loan we upgraded our machineries and premises. Our second unit is in Verna Industrial Estate. Since May 2024, our facility started a new business vertical of pathology blood diagnostic testing as well as complete health check-up packages for the general public,” she discloses..
With no previous background of doing business, Mhalshekar, says it is a great privilege to be a job giver. “Giving employment to women, seeing them become financially independent and witnessing their transformation is especially satisfying,” she says.
The facility Siddhivinayak Occupational Health, will soon complete a decade. “Our business has evolved. We are using latest technical advances and machineries for testing and reporting,” she says.
Occupational health screening focuses on preventive healthcare management of industrial employees. It offers companies better ROI in terms of reducing employee absenteeism due to sickness. The other benefits are improved productivity and higher morale. “I recommend all to assess health status at least annually. With a sedentary lifestyle many non communicable diseases are on a rise, which can be easily detected with simple diagnostic testing, thus ensuring a healthy and good quality of life for all,” points out Mhalshekar.
