'AP govt working to make Medtech Zone a success'

The Andhra Pradesh Medtech Zone coming up in the Visakhapatnam district will pave the way for large-scale import substitution and in future exports from here are possible, according to Chief Executive Officer Jitendar Sharma.

In an interview here on Tuesday, he said it was a well-conceived project in "what is otherwise an orphan sector" and the Government of AP was making all efforts to make it a success story.

He said, "For the first time in the country, all common facilities such as testing centres, labs and others required for medical devices manufacture are being set up at a single place at the cost of the Government in the park. The manufacturers can simply set up units and start production. We expect roughly 240 units coming up in the park in phases. The Union Government and the State Government will approximately spend Rs 300 crore on the common facilities."

He said cost-effective production of medical devices would be possible in the park and "we expect costs to go down by 40-50 per cent with a favourable tax structure."

Jitendar Sharma said that at present many of the medical devices which can be manufactured in the country were being imported at great cost. "Our medical devices imports bill is as high as Rs 25,000 crore and we can cut it by half once this park becomes fully operational," he said.

He said the Kalam Institute of Health Technology was also being set up in the park to assist the industry. "The institute will address the needs of the industry as far as research aspects are concerned. Further, it will auction prototypes to the industry and help in commercialising them," he said.

He said the Kalam Institute of Health Technology, for which he is the Executive Director, would be inaugurated later this year by the Chief Minister.

He exuded confidence that the AMTZ would turn Visakhapatnam into a major medical devices manufacturing hub in the country and in Asia.

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