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Planning Commission Examining Proposal
For Rs 350 Cr Dedicated Medical Devices Park In Gujarat
Planning Commission is likely to give the in-principle
approval soon for the proposal by the Department of Pharmaceuticals to set up a
dedicated greenfield Medical Devices and Equipment Park worth around Rs 350
crore near Sanand in Gujarat.
As per the proposal, submitted by the DoP after feasibility
studies, the proposed cluster would be set up under the aegis of NIPER,
Ahmedabad in partnership with the State government of Gujarat. “We are waiting
for the approval from the Planning Commission on the proposal. We had submitted
the proposal a few months back. If things go as per the plan, the construction
works can start by the end of this year or early next year,” sources said.
It is expected to be the first dedicated cluster for medical
devices companies and would mainly cater to the Western parts of the country.
The pre-feasibility study for setting up the greenfield ‘Medical Devices and
Equipment Park’ was carried out by the financial services firm, IL&FS and the
projected cost was put around Rs 300-350 crore. After Gujarat government showed
keen interest in the proposal, the Chemicals ministry forwarded it to the
Planning Commission.
The DoP also had got a feasibility study on the medical
devices sector done by the NIPER, Ahmedabad along with Frost and Sullivan,
before finalising the proposal for the medical devices park. The medical devices
industry offered a huge potential in the outsourcing programmes of the foreign
medical devices companies from countries like Europe and United States,
according to the study.
Indian medical devices manufacturing industry will benefit
largely from the outsourcing activity in future. Setting up of manufacturing
facility in India could provide the foreign companies an ideal location to
penetrate the vastly underdeveloped Asian medical devices market, while also
keeping product prices closer to those typical of the region. The study pointed
out the example of the R&D facility set up by Siemens India Ltd in Bangalore in
2004 for developing user-friendly medical imaging systems.
http://www.pharmabiz.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=55588 |
Gujarat FDCA To Set Up
Dedicated Testing Lab For Medical Devices In Baroda
The Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA)
is planning to set up a new laboratory dedicated for testing quality of
medical devices in the premises of its existing drug testing laboratory at
Baroda.
The laboratory is claimed to be the first dedicated
facility set up by a state drug regulatory office in the country to
monitor the standard of the latest medical devices approved by the Drug
Controller General of India (DCGI) under the category of drugs.
The administration has already received nod from the
state government to set up the laboratory along with a primary fund
allocation of Rs 25 lakh. At present, the officials are comprehending a
list of machinery and equipment, including X-ray machines, required to be
established in the new facility to test the latest medical devices, said H
G Koshia, commissioner, FDCA, Gujarat.
"The new medical devices included in the list of drugs
by the DCGI has to be tested with sophisticated equipments as they have
metal and plastic contents. We are expecting more funds to flow from the
next state annual budget for the project and our target is to complete the
works and start operations by the end of 2011," said Koshia.
Gujarat FDCA has already approved six cardiac stent
products for marketing since last two years. The state has almost 70 units
producing medical devices and the existing drug testing laboratory under
the FDCA is equipped to handle basic devices for quality.
The new laboratory will have its importance in near
future as the central government has sanctioned projects to set up a
medical devices industry cluster along with a training institution for
medical devices in the state.
As reported, the Planning Commission is expected to
give the in-principle approval soon for the proposal by the Department of
Pharmaceuticals to set up a dedicated greenfield Medical Devices and
Equipment Park worth around Rs 350 crore near Sanand in Gujarat. The
project is to assist the upcoming medical devices industry in the country,
which is facing various difficulties in growth, like poor access to high
end-technology, lack of adequate infrastructure and limited availability
of skilled manpower.
Similarly, the Ahmedabad chapter of the National
Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), is all set to
initiate courses to develop human resources to enhance the performance of
medical devices industry in the country. The institute will be one of the
first to introduce a dedicated course for medical devices technology.
With the ongoing developments in this area, the state
is expected to turn into a hub for medical devices industry in the near
future and the drug regulatory mechanism is trying to keep up the growth
in the industry and to maintain strict vigilance, said Koshia.
http://www.pharmabiz.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=55946 |
