With medical devices park, state loses another project

he ministry has confirmed that they have approved proposals from four states and not from Maharashtra

Mumbai The state government’s proposal of setting up a medical devices park in Aurangabad has been turned down by the central government. The proposal, under its ‘Promotion of Medical Devices Parks’ scheme, had been sent to the department of pharmaceuticals, under the union ministry of chemicals and fertilizers, back in 2020.

NCP activists were detained after they staged protest against the current Shinde-Fadnavis government over losing the Vedanta-Foxconn deal to Gujarat (HT PHOTO)

The ministry has confirmed that they have approved proposals from four states and not from Maharashtra. The chosen states are Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

The ₹424-crore medical devices park was proposed at the Auric City at Aurangabad.

This is the third major project Maharashtra has lost to other states after the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project and bulk drug park.

“The Department of Pharmaceuticals had received proposals from 16 states and union territories including the proposal from Maharashtra. After appraisal of the said 16 proposals, four proposals of the state government of Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have been selected and ₹30 crore has been released to each of the four states as first grant in aid,” states a letter issued by Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, union minister of health, family welfare, chemicals and fertilizers on September 24. This is in response to a query raised by Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi through a letter written on March 29 this year.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals implements the scheme ‘Promotion of Medical Devices Parks’ to provide financial assistance to state governments for the setting up of Common Infrastructure Facilities (CIFs) in the medical devices parks being developed by the states. The total financial outlay of the scheme is ₹400 crore and the maximum assistance under the scheme per state is limited to ₹100 crore.

The ₹424-crore medical devices park was proposed at the Auric City at Aurangabad .

The Shinde-Fadnavis government, which has been facing a backlash over losing projects, was once again slammed by Shiv Sena for being ignorant over losing investments to other states.

On October 29, 2020, the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government approved the setting up of medical devices park along with the bulk drug park under the said central schemes along with special incentives. The bulk drug park and medical devices park would have given a push for production of drugs and medical equipment in the state.

Shiv Sena leader and former environment minister Aaditya Thackeray, who was the first to reveal about losing the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project and bulk drug park to Gujarat, has been taking on the Shinde-Fadnavis government since the beginning. “After the exit of Vedanta-Foxconn and the Bulk Drug Park, Maharashtra has now been left out of the Medicine Device Park scheme as well. Despite having the best infrastructure and skill pool, another project was denied to Maharashtra. Does the governing dispensation know?” Aaditya Thackeray in a tweet on Sunday.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis alleged that Aaditya Thackeray was making false claims. “I will ask him to show one letter that the medical devices park was sanctioned in Maharashtra and later shifted to another state. They were in power for two and half years but did nothing except criticize the central government. We will continue to bring investment to Maharashtra like before,” Fadnavis said.