Youngsters with entrepreneurial ambitions were given an insight into the means of entering the Rs.3,700-crore medical textile (which includes bandages, sutures, diapers, sanitary napkins) industry at a seminar on the Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (MADITSSIA) campus here on Tuesday.
Organised jointly by MADITSSIA; the South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) of Coimbatore and the office of the Textile Commissioner, Mumbai; the seminar was aimed at providing guidance to the youth on available government assistance, purchase of machinery and use of manpower.
In her inaugural address, Rohini Sridhar, Chief Operating Officer and Director, Medical Services, Apollo Hospital, here said there were tremendous opportunities in the field of medical textiles as it was part of the healthcare sector that remained unaffected even by economic recession.
“Hospital beds continued to be full as epidemics broke one after the other in a cyclic fashion,” she said.
Stating that it was not the medical procedures but the ever growing technology that was driving the cost of healthcare, she said that United States made a mess of the sector because it could not control costs.
“On the other hand, India has done exceptionally well. A by-pass surgery that cost around Rs.1 lakh 15 years ago continues to cost the same even today.
“We have been able to do it by increasing indigenisation,” she said and encouraged youngsters here to venture into the medical textile market which was as of now dominated by importers. Local entrepreneurs must tap the big opportunity for growth in this industry. “I would be the happiest the day we can buy suture material manufactured in Madurai,” she concluded.
In his address, V.S. Manimaran, president, MADITSSIA, said that prospective entrepreneurs need not worry much about possibilities of marketing their products as the Centre had last year instructed all public sector enterprises to procure at least 20 per cent of their product requirements from micro, small and medium enterprises.
Those apprehensive of investing in machinery could even take job orders and get them executed through SITRA, he said.
K.S. Serma Pandiyan, secretary, MADITSSIA; Jeya Rajasekaran, chairman of a panel constituted for conducting the seminar and Sakthivel Perumalsamy, Head, Centre of Excellence for Medical Textiles, SITRA, also spoke.
