Global leader in medical technology Medtronic opened the expanded Medtronic Engineering and Innovation Center (MEIC) in Hyderabad on Thursday.
The project is part of a more than $350 million (around Rs.3,000 crore) investment the U.S. firm has committed over a five-year period to scale up and expand the research and development centre as well as raise the headcount from the existing around 950 to 1,500.
“It stands as beacon of innovation, largest outside the U.S. for Medtronic with the additional 1 lakh sq ft. MEIC now boasts of 2.5 lakh sq ft dedicated to collaborative innovation, training, education and immersive experiences, all aimed at shaping future of healthcare technologies,” said Industries and IT Minister D. Sridhar Babu, who inaugurated the centre in the presence of Medtronic chairman and CEO Geoff Martha and US Consul General Jennifer Larson.
The facility is expected to provide employment for 1,500-2,000 people, he said, pointing out MEIC was set up in 2011 when Congress was in power (in erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh). “We were there in the government then. The ecosystem we tried to build has evolved,” he said, pointing to how many companies have since set up operations transforming Hyderabad into medtech innovation hub and a preferred investment destination.
Besides bolstering the medtech ecosystem, MEIC expansion is a pointer to the pro business policy of the State government. Telangana is giving final touches to a Life Sciences Policy that will be a fusion of Artificial Intelligence and cloud computing along with pharma and regulations. It will also draw from best policies of many countries.
The State is also in the process of launching an MSME policy. The government is keen on comprehensive development of the medtech sector in Telangana and foresees a major role for MSMEs, the Minister said, adding availability of robust ancillary support will encourage large corporations such as Medtronic to set up manufacturing in the State.
As a measure to support MSMEs, the government’s Medical Devices park, near Hyderabad, is set to enhance its offerings with plug and play facility, offering single, multi tenant and built-to-suit spaces, he said, urging Medtronic to consider setting up a manufacturing facility in the park.
Medtronic, in a release on the MEIC, said a digital therapy and innovation lab, connected care lab, platform and tech lab, systems engineering lab and software lab form part of its expanded facility.
“Our R&D team in India plays a pivotal role in Medtronic’s global product development,” Mr. Martha said. Medtronic, celebrating its 75th anniversary, has come long way from its beginning in a garage in Minneapolis to emerge as a leader in medtech with 95,000 employees globally and 150 companies.
“MEIC supports many global business units of Medtronic to provide software engineering solutions and other engineering expertise in the areas of embedded and enterprise software, product security, data engineering, systems engineering, mechanical and hardware design, and quality and regulatory,” V-P and Site Leader, MEIC Divya Prakash Joshi said.
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