Examine the role of institutions like AMTZ in reducing India's dependence on imported medical technology.

India has historically met roughly 80% of its medical device demand by value through imports, a dependence the Cabinet flagged while approving the National Medical Devices Policy, 2023 [1]. Institutions like the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ), Visakhapatnam — a State-promoted park, not a ministry — address this by building shared ecosystems rather than isolated factories.

How such institutions cut import dependence

• Lowering entry barriers: AMTZ offers common scientific facilities (electromagnetic, radiation, biomaterial testing) that no single start-up could afford, hosting 100+ manufacturing units in one integrated hub [2].
• Import substitution in practice: with DBT support, AMTZ indigenised testing kits and reagents that were earlier imported, and the DBT–AMTZ COMManD consortium and mobile I-Lab met critical COVID-era equipment shortages [2].
• Regulatory and standards handholding: the Kalam Institute of Health Technology (KIHT) anchors the MedTech Mitra initiative with CDSCO, BIS, ICMR and NITI Aayog, and partnered the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission on materiovigilance — easing the certification bottleneck that pushes hospitals toward trusted imports [3].
• Innovation-to-industry linkage: as the Vizag S&T Cluster, AMTZ hosted the 3rd All S&T Clusters' Meet (September 2025), connecting academia, industry and start-ups for research translation [4].
• Scale through diplomacy: the BRICS BioDesign Programme, launched with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser and FICCI, extends need-driven co-development and market access across the Global South [5].

Limits to the model

• High-end imaging, implants and critical components/raw materials remain imported, so assembly-level localisation can mask continued dependence.
• Domestic R&D intensity is low; incentives like the PLI scheme for medical devices (₹3,420 crore) still carry the heavier burden of capacity creation [6].
• A few flagship zones cannot substitute for a dispersed national supplier base.

Thus, AMTZ-type institutions are enablers rather than substitutes for policy. Their real value lies in de-risking innovation and compressing the idea-to-market cycle; scaling this cluster model alongside the Medical Devices Policy, 2023 can convert Atmanirbharta in health technology into affordable care for citizens.