A.P. MedTech Zone poised to become a global manufacturing centre of medical equipment

Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) is a global hub for medical technology, producing essential equipment during the pandemic.

Having played a key role in the supply of critical medical equipment across the country during the coronavirus pandemic, the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) is flourishing as a centre of a global eco-system for medical technology, its MD and founder CEO Jitendar Sharma has said.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when frantic searches for oxygen concentrators, ventilators and RT PCR kits were the order of the day, the AMTZ, India’s first medical technology park in Visakhapatnam, rose to the occasion.

The AMTZ was manufacturing 250 ventilators, 500 oxygen concentrators and 10 lakh COVID RT PCR kits daily at the Nadupuru facilities and these equipment helped save lakhs of lives across the country, said Mr. Sharma.

Established on a 270-acre site in a record 342 days in 2018, the AMTZ has all the required manufacturing facilities and 18 high-end scientific facilities which support the production of medical technology and equipment.

“For the first time in the country, all common facilities such as testing centres, labs and other facilities required to manufacture medical devices were being set up at one place. Manufacturers can simply set up units and start production. We expect around 240 units would come up in the park in phases. The Centre and the State government would approximately spend ₹300 crore on common facilities,” Mr. Sharma had told this correspondent in an interview in July 2017, when the AMTZ was still at the conceptual stage.

Seven years later, 152 companies have already set up their production units in AMTZ, producing a diverse range of medical devices. Several units were set up this year and more are expected in 2025.

On July 11 this year, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, during his visit to the AMTZ, recalled the genesis of the project and the contribution of Mr. Sharma.