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India's First Medical Technology Park Opens In Tamil Nadu
Chennai: India's first medical technology park opened recently is expected to
bring cutting-edge technology to the country and drive down the cost of
expensive equipment like ultrasound machines.
Spread over 25 acres and designed to house 10 international
medical technology manufacturers, the Trivitron Medical Technologies Park aims
to bring cutting edge medical technology to medical professionals at affordable
costs.
"This is a captive park for medical devices manufacturers who
sign up a joint venture agreement with us. In all, around 10 medical devices
manufacturers will house their production facilities involving an outlay of
around Rs.250 crore," Trivitron Group founder and managing director G.S.K.Velu
told the sources here recently after the inauguration.
He said the Trivitron group has inked five medical devices
manufacturing joint ventures till date and the park's first occupant Aloka
Trivitron Medical Technologies is one such venture to manufacture ultrasound
machines, high end colour dopplers and advanced imaging systems.
The other joint ventures - with Brandon Medical, UK, ET
Cardioline, Italy, Johnson Medical, Sweden and Biosystems, Spain - are expected
to start their production from the park soon.
"Our investment in the joint ventures will be around Rs.150
crore and the stake holding in companies will be a mix of majority and
minority," Velu added.
While Trivitron holds 49 percent stake in Aloka Trivitron
Medical, Velu said in the remaining four ventures, the holding will be majority
stake.
A range of products will be manufactured at the park. These
include ultrasound systems, colour dopplers, X -ray machines, C-arms, in-vitro
diagnostic reagents and instruments, cardiology diagnostic instruments, critical
care instruments, modular operating theatres, operating theatre lights and
tables and implantable medical devices.
Inaugurating the park, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister
M.K.Stalin said, "The medical devices park is yet another feather in the cap of
the state's healthcare system. The state is the leader in healthcare delivery in
the country." IANS
http://www.indiaedunews.net/Tamil_Nadu/
India's_first_medical_technology_park_opens_in_Tamil_Nadu_10387
Medical Device Makers Want Higher Import Duty
The finance ministry, which is in the process of preparing
the Budget, is in a fix. The reason: While domestic manufacturers of medical
devices have demanded a hike in Customs duty, the administrative department for
medical devices, the Department of Pharmaceuticals, has sought just the
opposite.
While the manufacturers want higher Customs duty to make
imports costlier and encourage the domestic industry, the department has called
for a reduction in the duty to bring down the cost of imported devices.
The domestic medical devices industry is worth Rs 15,000
crore.
In a representation to the finance ministry, the Association
of Medical Device Industry (AIMED) said the import-dependent medical devices
industry would prosper only if imports were discouraged through higher taxes. It
wants the special Customs duty concession given to 111 types of medical devices
abolished. It also wants an increase in Customs duty on devices categorised as
life-saving from the current 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent, according AIMED
Coordinator Rajiv Nath.
The department, on the other hand, is known to have asked the
finance ministry for a waiver of Customs duty on all life-saving medical
devices. The department has also sought a reduction in Customs duty on all
medical devices as it feels the sector is important from the public health point
of view.
The industry and the department are, however, united over
their demand for lower duties on imported components that are essential to
manufacture medical devices.
Both also highlight instances where import duties on finished
products are less than the duties on raw materials and components. The
department and the industry have sought that such anomalies be corrected.
Seeking duty exemption on all raw materials used to
manufacture medical devices, the department pointed out that duty on antigens
and antibodies that were used in diagnostic kits were higher than the duty on
finished products. “The kits are key to correct diagnosis and cure. They should
come under a lower duty rate”, an official said.
With over 700 manufacturers – mostly in the small-scale
sector – India has an emerging medical devices industry. The high-end products
are imported and marketed in the country by global medical equipment majors such
as Philips, Siemens and GE.
The Indian medical device makers are mostly engaged in
low-value products like syringes, needles, catheters, blood collection tubes,
medical electronics, medical equipment and implants.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/medical-device-makers-want-higher-import-duty/384856 |
