Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh will soon get a big push in the medical equipment and devices sector as the state government has signed 25 MoUs with medical equipment manufacturing units that will generate 17,000 jobs and will provide direct employment to 5,000 persons.

On the second day of CII Partnership Summit here on Sunday, the principal secretary of health, Medical and Family Welfare Department, Poonam Malakondaiah said that 25 MoUs were signed for manufacturing medical equipment with an investment of Rs 8,000 crore at AP MedTech Zone (AMTZ) being developed near Visakhapatnam.

Speaking with The Hindu, she told that the zone would be operational in phases from October adding that they had also signed MoU for cooperation with Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) and Health Sector Skill Council of India, both Government of India organizations.

She also added that AMTZ would come up in around 270 acres of land near Nadupuru in Visakhapatnam and would be India’s first medical device manufacturing unit with eight state-of-the-art facilities and over 100 medical equipment and devices units.

AMTZ CEO Jitender Sharma told The Hindu that all the 25 MoUs were confirmed investments and not just expression of interest.

As per a recent report in TOI, Andhra MedTech Zone (AMTZ) is going to have a 3D printing facility for fitting implants and affordable glucometers for every household and will also be the first hub in the country to manufacture CT scan machines within a year.