Medical equipment and devices sector in State gets a boost

25 MoUs with proposed investment of ₹8,000 crore signed

With an aim to boost the medical equipment and devices sector, the State government has signed 25 MoUs with a proposed investment of ₹8,000 crore with medical equipment manufacturing units on the second day of CII Partnership Summit here on Sunday. The projects will create 17,000 jobs, including direct employment to 5,000 persons.

Poonam Malakondaiah, principal secretary of Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department, said 25 MoUs were signed for manufacturing medical equipment with an investment of ₹8,000 crore at AP MedTech Zone (AMTZ) being developed near Visakhapatnam. On the sidelines of CII Partnership Summit here, she told The Hindu that the zone would be operational in phases from October. She said they had also signed MoU for cooperation with Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) and Health Sector Skill Council of India, both Government of India organisations.

Confirmed investments

Executive Director of Kalam Institute of Health Technology (KIHT, Department of Biotechnology, and Government of India Project) Jitendar Sharma said that all the 25 MoUs were confirmed investments and not just expression of interest.

The panellists in the session on ‘Medical Equipment and Devices -Make in India- Scope in Andhra Pradesh’ said that in spite of having a market size of over ₹20,000 crore, India is currently importing over 75% of the medical equipment.

Ms. Malakondaiah said AMTZ would come up in around 270 acres of land near Nadupuru in Visakhapatnam and would be India’s first medical device manufacturing unit with eight state-of-the-art facilities and over 100 medical equipment and devices units.