Wipro GE Healthcare Boosts Local Manufacturing, New Factory Under PLI Goes Live
With an investment of over INR 100 crores, this greenfield facility is one of 15 medical device manufacturers approved under the government’s PLI Scheme towards Atmanirbhar Bharat
Chennai, 2022 – Wipro GE Healthcare, a leading global medical technology and digital solutions innovator, today announced the launch of its new manufacturing facility, under the Indian government’s Production Linked Ince ntive (PLI) Scheme. The new plant, Wipro GE Medical Device Manufacturing factory (MDM), is aligned to the Na tional Agenda of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and will further boost local manufacturing of medical devices in India. 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 INR100 crore in this facility.
A 35000 sq ft facility, the MDM factory is set up for 24/7 operations for manufacturing CT machines, cathlab eq uipment, 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.”
Commenting on the launch, 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 capa bility as a global ma nufacturing hub. We applaud the government’s initiatives towards making India self-reliant. The ne w draft of the National Medical Devices Policy 2022 provides further impetus towards empowering India’s healthcare ecosystem, and we at Wipro GE He althcare are very optimistic about the future of MedTech in India.
“We congratulate Wipro GE Healthcare for its contribution towards boosting local manufacturing and generating emp loyment 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.
Wipro GE Healthcare’s new facility in Bengaluru promotes the Electronics System Development and Mainte nance (ESDM) sector and is in sync with the government’s goal to build-up the digital economy for the world through state-of-the-art medical devices made in India.
From left to right: Mahesh Palashikar, President, GE South Asia; Dr. Shravan Subramanyam, MD, Wipro GE Healthcare; Ian Dale, Chief Supply Chain Officer, GE Healthcare; Shri B V Naidu, Chairman, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM); Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro GE Healthcare & Chairman, Wipro Enterprises; Dr. E V Ramana Reddy, ACS, Dept of Electronics – IT BT S&T, Govt of Karnataka; Mahesh Kapri, MD, GE BEL & GM, ISC – South Asia, GE Healthcare; Krishna Srinivasa Rao, Managing Director, Wipro GE MDM; and Vardarajan Saravanan, Business Team Leader, Wipro GE MDM
About Wipro GE Healthcare:
Wipro GE Healthcare Private Limited is a Joint Venture (JV) between General Electric Company, USA and Wipro Enterprises Limited, India. Established in 1990, it is one of the most successful and longest-running JVs in the re gion with operations spread across India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan. The company is the largest Medical Technology player in the South Asia region. Wipro GE is focused on addressing some of the toughest healthcare challenges – lowering maternal and infant deaths, enabling early detection of cancer, addressing heart diseases.
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare is the $17.7 billion healthcare business of GE (NYSE: GE). As a leading global medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics and digital solutions innovator, GE Healthcare enables clinicians to make faster, mo re informed decisions through intelligent devices, data analytics, applications, and services, supported by its Edi son intelligence platform. With over 100 years of healthcare industry experience and around 47,000 employ es globally, the company operates at the center of an ecosystem working toward precision health, digitizing healt hcare, helping drive productivity and improve outcomes for patients, providers, health systems and researchers around the world.
QUOTE SHEET
GE’s 14 factories across energy, aviation and healthcare manufacturing already play a significant role in supporting India’s Make in India goals. The launch of our fourth healthcare manufacturing facility in the country highlights local hi-tech manufacturing skills, and a growing ecosystem for production of medical devices and components. I am proud of the Wipro and GE partnership that continues to catalyze product development and growth in access to healthcare in the country,” said Mahesh Palashikar, President, GE South Asia.
Ian Dale, Chief Supply Chain Officer, GE Healthcare
“We are witnessing India playing a significant role in filling the challenges of global supply chain. Wipro GE Healthcare’s Medical Devices Manufacturing factory is indeed a testament to strengthen the country’s position in the global supply chain, as it continues to grow towards the goal of becoming the ‘World’s factory’. Considering India’s massive potential in the MedTech manufacturing backed by the government’s ‘Self Reliance’ programme, we are confident that our aim to making India a manufacturing hub will be fulfilled, thereby empowering quality and affordable healthcare for all.”
Mahesh Kapri, Managing Director, GE BEL & General Manager – ISC, South Asia, GE Healthcare
“The country’s import dependency for medical devices stands at 75-80%* and for India to rise the ranks as the leading MedTech devices 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, “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, Shri 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 overwh elm ing 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, Shri 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 landm ark project of a manufacturing plant for medical devices with a focus on diversity, is an important milestone in recognizi ng 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.”
