Centre gave ‘in-principle’ approval to four states to set up ‘Medical Device Parks’ (MDP) under its Promotion of MDP scheme for which it has approved Rs 400 crore incentives.

Centre had received proposals from 16 states, in the first phase of approval it selected four states Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. “Further qualitative assessment of the said States in terms of their fiscal capability, ecosystem attractiveness and industrial presence also validated the selection of these States,” said a senior officer of the Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizer.

The selection of the States was based on the challenge method, which is reflected in the evaluation criteria of the scheme. The ranking methodology for States was based on the parameters prescribed in the scheme guidelines such as utility charges, State policy incentives, total area of the park, land lease rate, connectivity of the park, ease of doing business ranking, and availability of technical manpower, the Ministry said.

The MDP scheme was aimed at having easy access to standard testing and infrastructure facilities through creation of world class common infrastructure facilities for increased competitiveness. It would result into significant reduction of the cost of production of medical devices leading to better availability and affordability of medical devices in the domestic market.

The Medical Devices Parks to be developed under the scheme would provide common infrastructure facilities at one place thereby creating a robust ecosystem for the medical device manufacturing in the country and also reducing the manufacturing cost significantly.

The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs. 400 crore spread in five years. The financial assistance to a selected Medical Device Park would be 70% of the project cost of common infrastructure facilities. In case of North Eastern States and Hilly States, financial assistance would be 90% of the project cost. Maximum assistance under the scheme for one Medical Device Park would be limited to Rs. 100 crores, the Ministry said.