Health-care: STPI and PGI to jointly set up centre of excellence in Lucknow

The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), an autonomous society under the ministry of electronics & information technology (MeitY), and the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGI),Lucknow, have embarked on a project to establish a medical electronics & health informatics centre of excellence (CoE) in Lucknow by mid-next year.

“Known as the STPI MediTech CoE, this centre will stimulate the establishment and growth of technology-based startups in medical electronics and health informatics by providing state-of-the-art infrastructure, including world-class laboratories. In addition, the centre will offer mentoring, marketing and funding, thus creating an ecosystem essential for the success of the startups,” said Dr Uttam Singh, head, department of biostatistics and health informatics, PGI.

He said the core objective of the CoE was to strengthen domestic capability for manufacturing reliable and affordable medical electronics products and providing services, thereby, reducing dependence on imports. “It will also contribute to the vision of flagship government programmes such as Make in India, Digital India and Startup India,” said Singh.

The CoE will come up on the PGI campus, with a built-up space of 18,000 sq ft. “This centre will leverage the deep research capabilities of PGI in areas of biostatistics and health informatics. There will also be seamless access to clinical trials of medical innovations. STPI, Lucknow, will play a crucial role in providing robust infrastructure, industry connect as well as mentoring and funding,” said Singh.

STPI MediTech CoE will also rope in stakeholders such as department of IT and electronics, UP government, Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED), Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) and Kalam Institute of Health Technology (KIHT) as well as additional collaborators like the Institute of Technology, Kanpur, General Electric, Wipro, Siemens and Philips (India).

According to a source working at the STPI, Dr Saurabh Srivastava, chairman of CA India and chairman emeritus, TiE Delhi-NCR, will be the chief mentor of this centre.

“With an estimated budget of Rs 22 crores (22 million), the CoE will nurture 50 startups over a period of five years, stimulating R&D in medical electronics and health informatics while facilitating an entrepreneurial ecosystem to promote young innovators to create affordable, high-quality indigenous medical products, drive employment and contribute to the economy of the region,” said Singh.

Dr Omkar Rai, director general, STPI, said, “MediTech CoE at Lucknow will build a robust ecosystem to harness emerging technologies, foster innovation and nurture startups while pushing the boundary of technologies in the healthcare domain.”