India’s eighth largest state of Andhra Pradesh situated in the southeastern part of the country, is moving forward with a first medical device park in Asia dedicated to manufacturing medical devices. The park will span 226 acres at Visakhapatnam, the state’s largest city. India’s state-cabinet has approved funding of the Andhra Pradesh Medtech Zone (AMTZ).
Rana Mehta, partner and leader for the health care division of leading accounting firm Pricewaterhousecoopers Private Limited, told Medical Device Daily, “In addition, facilities and incentives for manufacturing, such as the availability of electricity 24 hours every day, good connectivity with the rest of India, land for industrial purposes, creation of common facilities in the park and good governance also make Vishakhapatnam a good destination for manufacturing.”
“The next in pipeline are Maharashtra at Nagpur City and Gujarat. These are still at the preliminary discussion stage. AMTZ is seeing the fastest progress as yet,” Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator at the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry told Medical Device Daily.
AMTZ will have common manufacturing facilities such as specialized laboratories, warehouses, and testing centers. Small and medium-sized enterprises will be located in 100 to 150 independent manufacturing units, each in a built-in ready-to-use area of half to one acre each . High-end medical device manufacturing aimed at import substitution as well as looking for export opportunities, will also be accommodated. The average monthly rental will be less than $2000.
According to research firm GlobalData, India’s medical device sector is currently worth more than $5 billion and is projected to hit $17.6 billion by 2020. So far, over 50 companies have shown interest and 38 companies have submitted expression of interest letters after the Andhra Pradesh government sent out invitations to potential investors.
