Wipro GE Healthcare sets up unit to manufacture medical devices

Bengaluru: Wipro GE Healthcare, a leading global medical technology and digital solutions innovator, on Thursday announced the launch of its new manufacturing facility in Bengaluru, under the Indian government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

The new plant, Wipro GE Medical Device Manufacturing factory (MDM), is aligned to the National Agenda of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' and will further boost local manufacturing of medical devices in India. The Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) is at the forefront of enabling a global ESDM ecosystem in Karnataka and has welcomed the first association of its Partner in Progress for Electronics, System, Design, and Manufacturing (ESDM) Program through the inauguration of Wipro GE Healthcare's medical devices manufacturing plant. The plant is a 100% subsidiary of Wipro GE Healthcare and has been setup as a green field legal entity. The company has invested a little over Rs 100 crore in this facility.

A 35,000-sq ft facility has been set up for 24/7 operations for manufacturing CT machines, cathlab equipment, ultrasound scanners, patient monitoring solutions, ECG machines and ventilators. It is equipped with automated testers to assess performance of the medical devices. This facility currently has 35 employees in its shopfloor which is expected to increase to 100 in next 2 to 3 years.

Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro GE Healthcare and Chairman, Wipro Enterprises, said "India is on an accelerated growth path in gaining global prominence for medical devices manufacturing. Wipro GE Healthcare's new factory, with support from the government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, will aid the health ecosystem in India to realize its true potential in addressing local and global challenges for healthcare providers."

Dr Shravan Subramanyam, Managing Director, Wipro GE Healthcare, said, "The new facility is a testament to our continued commitment to an Atmanirbhar Bharat and is a step forward in elevating India's capability as a global manufacturing hub. We applaud the government's initiatives towards making India self-reliant. The new draft of the National Medical Devices Policy 2022 provides further impetus towards empowering India's healthcare ecosystem, and we at Wipro GE Healthcare are very optimistic about the future of MedTech in India.

"We congratulate Wipro GE Healthcare for its contribution towards boosting local manufacturing and generating employment in the local communities. Through our Karnataka Digital Economy Mission, we will provide continued support to the company's efforts towards augmenting the ESDM sector and providing fillip to the region's digital economy," said C N Ashwath Narayan, Minister of Information Technology - Biotechnology, Higher Education, Science and Technology of Karnataka in his virtual address.

Mahesh Kapri, Managing Director, GE BEL and General Manager - ISC, South Asia, GE Healthcare, said, "The country's import dependency for medical devices stands at 75-80% and for India to rise the ranks as the leading MedTech device market, local innovation & production is pivotal. We are confident that our new factory will contribute meaningfully to India's self-reliance goal and will accelerate India's profile on the global product development map."

Addressing those gathered at the inauguration, Dr E V Ramana Reddy, ACS, Dept of Electronics, IT BT S&T said, "Karnataka has always led the country's technological progress. Policy initiatives at the central and state level have additionally encouraged the growth of the ESDM sector along with the growing demand for superior technology products. Industry 4.0 and the medical devices sector is heavily dependent on India's electronics and manufacturing capabilities and creating a suitable ecosystem to foster this growth will take the nation far ahead. Initiatives such as these by Wipro GE Healthcare reflect their commitment towards making the state a pivot for innovation and growth. The industry's acceptance of KDEM's ESDM-led programs is a positive sign towards building the state's IT and ESDM sector and taking it to a global platform."

Sharing his thoughts on the inauguration of the unit, B V Naidu, Chairman, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission said, "The KDEM has always strived to focus on innovation, skill development, identify and nurture talent in the start-up and ESDM space in clusters of Karnataka. We believe that the state has immense drive and hunger to learn, innovate and contribute significantly to the nation's growth. When we launched our Partner in Progress program, the overwhelming response received by industry leaders was a reassurance to our commitment of building a strong ESDM ecosystem in Karnataka. Today's inauguration of the new manufacturing unit of Wipro GE Healthcare, our first partner in the program is a step towards enhancing this ecosystem while building a nurturing platform for our very able capable and diverse workforce."

Speaking on KDEM's contribution to nurturing a strong talent pool in the ESDM space, Sanjeev Gupta, CEO, KDEM said, "KDEM's Partner in Progress for ESDM was an important step in pledging our commitment to making Karnataka a global hub for ESDM and Wipro GE Healthcare was one of the first partners in leading the charge for this. With its landmark project of a manufacturing plant for medical devices with a focus on diversity, is an important milestone in recognising the nation's diverse talent force and their exceptional capabilities. We at KDEM are extremely happy to partner with the industry think tank to take the Beyond Bengaluru vision to the next level that will impact and ignite the next wave of development in India."

The Karnataka Digital Economy Mission is a special entity set up to strengthen the digital economy in Karnataka. It is a first-of-its-kind organization designed to function as the knowledge bridge between the Government of Karnataka and industry with a view of accelerating the growth and investments of the ESDM, IT, BT, and S&T sectors in the state. KDEM's efforts to scale the growth of the electronics, system, design and manufacturing (ESDM) industry has received wide acceptance from the industry. 18 large corporations have given their Letter of Intent (LoI) so far to set up operations in the state. This comes at a time when the Government of India recently announced its semiconductor policy to promote the manufacturing of semiconductor chips in the country.

The Government of Karnataka projects the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM)sector to yield more than 20% of regional GDP by 2025. The state government has been shaping its digital economy with new policies in the IT, ER&D, ESDM, and Skill Development sectors. Wipro GE Healthcare's new facility promotes the ESDM sector in Karnataka and is in sync with the state government's goal to build up the digital economy for the world through state-of-the-art medical devices made in India.