Medtronic to invest Rs 1,200 cr in Hyderabad R&D centre

Medtronic plc, a leading medical technology company, will invest ₹1,200 crore to scale up its research and development facility in Hyderabad over five years.

Signalling the emergence of Hyderabad as the medical devices hub of the country, Medtronic plc, the global leader in medical technology, will invest Rs 1,200 crore in scaling up and expanding the current R&D centre in Hyderabad into a state-of-the-art engineering and innovation centre. Hyderabad, already second home to some of the world’s top IT companies, will now host Medtronic Engineering and Innovation Center (MEIC), the medical devices’ giant’s largest global R&D centre outside the US. Making the announcement through a virtual meeting on Tuesday, Omar Ishrak, the company’s Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board said Medtronic’s investment in India is a testament to the company’s commitment to the region and that it was proud to be collaborating with Telangana government on this major investment in the country. “Research and development leads to innovation and innovation is crucial to our growth strategy. The expansion of MEIC will help us serve the Medtronic Mission to use medical technology to alleviate pain, restore health and extend life for patients around the world, which is also aligned with the government’s vision to improve access to healthcare for patients in India,” he said.

The investment, planned over five years, will provide a boost to Telangana’s medical technology plans besides cementing Hyderabad’s position as the medical devices hub in India. During his visit to the US in 2016, IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao and his team of officials held the first meeting with Omar Ishrak. Both Medtronic and the State government have been in discussions for the last two years on the modalities of investment. During the virtual meeting, Rama Rao explained to the Medtronic leadership team the various initiatives taken by the State government to promote the medical devices sector and the developments over the last few years. While recalling his meeting with Omar Ishrak in the US, Rao congratulated him for taking over as the Executive Chairman of Medtronic and Chairman of the Board of Intel and congratulated Geoff Martha on his appointment as the new Chief Executive Officer of the company.

“We are delighted that Medtronic has chosen Hyderabad as its largest R&D base outside the US and intends to create about 1,000 jobs in the next few years. It is indeed a great honour for the city to host this center and it is a testimony to Hyderabad’s growing prowess in the medical devices sector. The Telangana government is committed to the growth of medical technology in the State and we see this partnership with Medtronic as a pivotal one. We will work with them to ensure this center will continue to contribute to their remarkable efforts to improve healthcare globally,” the Minister added.

Rama Rao alluded to how the story on India for India and India for the world is getting stronger with the recent turn of global events and assured them of all support from the State government for the company’s growth plans and aspirations in India. Madan Krishnan, vice president-Indian subcontinent, Minimally Invasive Therapies Group (MITG) APAC, who attended the virtual meeting said that invention and innovation were vital at Medtronic to enhance therapy outcomes for people with chronic diseases. MEIC conducts advanced engineering R&D and product development in the areas of design, analysis, advanced hardware- software development and testing. “The futuristic vision of the Telangana government and access to great infrastructure has enabled us to make this investment in Hyderabad. I am confident that this major investment would create many job opportunities in healthcare and help energise the medical devices innovation ecosystem in India,” he said. Medtronic CEO Geoff Martha, Medtronics executive vice president and MITG president Bob White, MITG vice-president (R&D) Mani Prakash, MEIC vice president (RGI quality) Subu Mangipudi and MEIC-Hyderabad site leader and senior engineering director Divya Prakash Joshi, attended the meeting. Principal Secretary for IT and Industries Jayesh Ranjan and Director for Life Sciences Shakthi Nagappan on behalf of the State government, attended the virtual meeting