New Delhi, April 15 (IANS): Philips on Monday said that it expanded its footprint in India by announcing a new R&D centre.

The company will open the new Healthcare Innovation Centre (HIC) in Pune which will have an office space of about 300,000 square feet in the first phase and will house 1,900 employees.

"This new centre will further strengthen our commitment to supporting the Indian healthcare ecosystem with innovative and sustainable solutions and leveraging the same for customers globally," Bert van Meurs, Executive VP and Chief Business Leader of Image Guided Therapy, Precision Diagnosis (ad interim), and responsible for Diagnosis & Treatment, said in a statement.

The new centre, to be operational in two years, will house R&D teams from the company's Image Guided Therapy, Precision Diagnosis, Monitoring and Sleep & Respiratory businesses.

Working on innovative health technologies, this centre will contribute to Philips' global mission to improve the lives of 2.5 billion people a year by 2030.

"With the launch of this new centre, we will be able to design more innovative end-to-end solutions and collaborate better with healthcare providers as we look to meet our common goal of attaining better health outcomes," said Peeyush Kaushik, VP and Head of Healthcare Innovation Centre, Pune.

In November last year, Philips India inaugurated its new innovation campus in Yelahanka, Bengaluru.