India’s first medical devices industrial park is set to come up in Gujarat and the second one is being planned for Tamil Nadu, said Ananth Kumar, Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, while releasing a government-industry task-force report on boosting domestic production of high-end medical technology products, according to a report in the Economic Times newspaper
“We have spoken to the Gujarat Chief Minister already on this and the state based National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research will be the nodal institute to supervise it” said Kumar. He added that talks are on with Tamil Nadu government to explore whether Chengalpattu could host the second such tech-park. “We have also spoken to the Finance Minister and revenue secretary to firm up the incentive structure that can be provided for the same” said Kumar.
Acknowledging that the current duty structure which is favorable to imported products is anomalous, Kumar said he is in talks with the finance ministry to incentivize making in India. The task-force headed by pharmaceuticals secretary VK Subburaj has recommended that the import of second hand diagnostic equipments be banned or made stringent and zero or minimal duty be levied on the import of raw materials for production of medical devices.
