Visakhapatnam is set to emerge as the major hub for manufacture of medical devices in the country, meeting the requirements of the domestic market as well as the export market, according to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the fourth WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices after dedicating the AP Medtech Zone to the nation on Thursday. He said 80-90 per cent of the medical devices in the country were being imported and most of them could be manufactured at the AP Medtech Zone and even exports could be taken up at a later stage. The park would give a tremendous boost to the medical devices segment in the healthcare industry, he added. He complimented CEO Jitendar Sharma for his hard work in completing the first phase of the park in a year's time.

He said it was the first time the WHO Global Forum on Medical devices was being held in the country and he thanked the WHO representative, Henk Bekedam, for choosing Visakhapatnam and AP Medtech Zone for the purpose. He offered to host it the next time as well.

Ashwini Kumar Chowbey, Union Minister of State for Health, congratulated the AP Government for setting up the Medtech Zone and said the Union Government had also played its part in setting up two incubation centres in the zone. He said the NDA Government was giving a lot of importance to healthcare and it had taken up the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme for the poorer sections.

Poonam Malakondaiah, the Principal Secretary, Health, AP Government, said all facilities had been set up in the park for manufacture, testing, and certification of medical devices in the park and from a simple thermometer to CT Scan could be manufactured there. She said the product roll-out from the park would begin soon from January.

Jitendar Sharma, the CEO and MD of AP Medtech, said that in a little over a year's time the first phase of the park had been completed, as the Chief Minister had given all co-operation and cleared all the hurdles in the construction of the park. He said India was importing medical devices worth Rs 30,000 crores per annum and the park would play a big role in import substitution. Later, exports could also be taken up. The greatest emphasis would be on quality control, with 18 high-end industrial labs in the park. Eighty units, including 17 start-ups, had already started functioning.

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