Medical device manufacturing sector has remained nascent, leading to tremendous import dependency. Lack of domestic manufacturing of medical devices is the main reasons for this import dependency and high cost of medical products and services in the country. To address this situation, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh aims to establish country’s first Andhra Pradesh Medical Technology Zone (AMTZ) at Vishakhapatnam. The goal of this progressive initiative would be to make Andhra Pradesh an internationally recognized manufacturing hub for medical devices, help in national agenda of import substitution, make Andhra Pradesh a leader in medical technology exports, generate employment, and contribute to volume generated cost reduction of medical devices for patients. In a meeting organized on 6th Nov, 2015,
The creation of such a zone is based on the fact that medical devices manufacturing requires certain high investment facilities which are too capital intensive for individual manufactures to invest upon. The zone with in-house high investment scientific facilities would help manufacturers reduce the cost of manufacturing by more than 40%-50%. Currently, due to lack of such centrally located sharable facilities, either manufacturers do not undertake production of technologies requiring them or send their products abroad for process up-gradation and value addition.
Government of Andhra Pradesh has developed 270 acres of land for this project.
The zone have included following facilities over an area of 270 acre:
A. Component Testing centre.
B. Electro-magnetic interference laboratory.
C. Medical grade low vacuum molding, cabinet molding, injection molding centres.
D. 3 D designing and printing for medical grade products.
E. Sterilization & Toxicity testing centre.
F. Radiation testing centre.
G. Warehousing.
H. Regulator’s office.
I. Other facilities commonly required in manufacturing of medical devices.
J. Incubation
Currently it houses 120+ manufacturing partners