Visakhapatnam to be the new hub for medical devices: Naidu

VISAKHAPATNAM –  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said Visakhapatnam would become a hub for manufacturing medical devices by attracting 200 to 300 units with an investment of Rs. 25,000 crore to Rs. 30,000 crore to create 25,000 jobs. He was speaking after laying the foundation stone for India’s first medical devices manufacturing park at Nadupuru in the Peda Gantyada mandal near the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. Andhra Med Tech Zone Limited, a company floated by the government, will execute the project. Allotment of 226 acres, registration, and State Cabinet clearance and sanction by the Union Ministry of Health, had been done in a fast-track mode in less than six to seven months, Mr. Naidu said. He hoped that the park would start functioning within a year to bring down the cost of healthcare drastically, and substitute dependence on imports from the Europe, the United States, China and other countries to make India an exporter. After laying the stone, Mr. Naidu held a lively interaction with investors from all over the country as well as representatives from various trade bodies, including the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry. Mr. Naidu said the medical devices manufacturing park being established in the city under the aegis of the Andhra Med Tech Zone Limited would be a unique experiment under the ‘Make in India’ programme to make Andhra Pradesh a trendsetter.