KTR Inaugurates Asia's Largest Stent Manufacturing Unit

KT Rama Rao, Minister for Industries & Commerce, Government of Telangana inaugurated the 1st Phase of Sahajanand Medical Technologies (SMT)‘Global Hub for Manufacturing and R&D’ of minimally invasive cardiovascular devices at the Medical Devices Park in Hyderabad.

Dhirajlal Kotadia, Chairman, Sahajanand Group of Companies, K Prabhakar Reddy, Member of Parliament, Medak, G Mahipal Reddy, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Patancheru, G Ballamallu, Chairman, TSIIC, Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary, (IT, E&C), Govt. of Telangana, EV Narsimha Reddy, VC & MD, TSIIC, Shakthi Nagappan, Director (LS), Government of Telangana, Bhargav Kotadia, Managing Director, SMT, Mr. Ganesh Sabat, Chief Executive Officer, SMT, leaders of various Medtech companies, senior clinicians, cardiologists, and healthcare leaders were present.

is a global leader and among the largest cardiovascular manufacturing company in structural and interventional devices. This will be the second manufacturing unit of SMT that will manufacture 1.2 million stents and 2 million catheters when in full capacity. The facility will also boast minimally invasive new-age and highly advanced cardiac products like Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) and Heart Occluders used in patients ranging from the elderly population to pediatrics.

This state-of-the-art manufacturing campus will also house SMT’s R&D centre, which will be focused on developing advanced medical products in interventional, structural, endovascular and closure products in the niche domain of cardiology. The manufacturing unit will be instrumental in generating employment opportunities for close to 2000 people in the state. In addition to this, the global R&D centre will employ over 300 highly qualified scientists. The facility will give a significant boost to ‘Make in India’ stent manufacturing and reduce India’s dependency on foreign stents which are imported with heavy duties.

KT Rama Rao, Minister for Industries and Commerce while congratulating SMT on the inauguration of the first phase said "Over the years the State of Telangana has recognized the medical device segment as a high-potential, high growth sector, which presents unlimited opportunities and a preferred destination for investment and expansion.We have made sure that we have a skilled workforce, favourable policies, and best-in-class infrastructure to help companies set up facilities that are of global standards. Today’s inauguration of SMT’s state-of-the-art stent manufacturing and cardiac devices facility is a step towards making available high-quality, indigenously made, affordable healthcare products that will be made from the state of Telangana for a global populace. I am also happy to learn that this facility when fully operational, will create direct employment of over 2,000 people, besides indirect employment throughout the value chain."

Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary (I&C), Government of Telangana said, “We are immensely proud of the global impact the state of Telangana has been able to create in the life sciences, healthcare, and the Medtech sector. Cardiac care has witnessed a paradigm shift however COVID-19 has reinforced the vulnerability of patients with cardiovascular conditions. The inauguration of SMT’s facility today, which manufactures technologically sophisticated cardiac implantable devices of global standards, is timely and will surely revolutionize treatment mechanisms in this segment. This further reinforces Telangana's position as a preferred destination for innovator and technology companies."

Mr. Bhargav Kotadia, Managing Director, Sahajanand Medical Technologies said, "Cardiac care has seen a transformation over the years with technology playing an important role, and we at SMT have always been at the forefront of this transition by introducing innovative and minimally invasive cardiac products that have the potential to change the standard of care for patients. This facility in Hyderabad is aesthetically designed and planned in such a way that it will expand and house an array of new launches in cardiac care in the years to come. At SMT our motto is “Pledged to Save Millions" by making critical healthcare available for people around the world. Today marks another milestone in our commitment to achieve this mission and with the Telangana government’s favorable policy support and continued proactive approach which made us choose Hyderabad, we plan to build on this further.”

The newly inaugurated facility is approximately 20 acres that harbours cardiac manufacturing and an R&D centre. Total construction of 1st phase is around 2 Lakh Sq. Feet, which consists of 15 cleanrooms having ISO Class 10,000 and 100,000cleanrooms that utilizes HEPA filtration systems to maintain air cleanliness. In addition to that, all clean rooms are having HEPA filtration of 0.3 Micron and are temperature and HR controlled having pressurised room conditions compared to the atmosphere to avoid the external contamination. The cleanrooms are having GI powder coated partitions for a smooth finish with the production area maintaining a unidirectional flow of material movement.

This facility is built keeping in mind compliance requirements for National and International Regulatory bodies such as CDSCO, USFDA, ANVISA (for Latin American Countries), MDSAP, MDD, and CE certification for European Union. Further, as India heads towards becoming a manufacturing-based economy this factory in Hyderabad is qualified under the Production Linked Incentive Scheme launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India to make India ‘Atma Nirbhar’ and to provide impetus to India’s vision of becoming global manufacturing hub for medical devices, reducing import dependency in the future.