In a major embarrassment to the state, the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED) served RED NOTICE and warned its members against bidding for and supplying any medical equipment citing non-payment of money.
“Warning to all Members not to bid/supply in future to APMSIDC (Andhra Pradesh Medical Services & Infrastructure Development Corporation) directly or through their distributors without 100% advance payment terms as many of our Members had supplied to APMSIDC and their payments are on hold since last 4-5 years. Any sales done are your own financial risk after this Red listing,” read the statement posted by AIMED on Twitter.
Dues mount to nearly Rs. 1000 crores
According to AP’s Medical and Health department, the pending bills for medical equipment could be over Rs. 900 crore and during Covid-19, ventilators were bought for Rs. 329 crore. An additional Rs.54 crore bills under National Health Mission (NHM) are pending too.
Recently, another report surfaced that the AP government diverted Rs. 600 crore of the NHM and also issued Utilisation Certificates (UC) regarding the expenses of the above amount. However, many suppliers lodged a complaint with the Union Health Ministry and it asked the state government to send a detailed report.
With pending bills touching nearly a thousand crores, many international and national companies are scared to supply medical equipment and medicines to AP as they are unsure of receiving any payments from the state government.
Before this, contractors and suppliers protested against the YSRCP government’s failure of payments. They even threatened that they would not take part in any tenders called by the government.
Looks like this red noise by AIMED has not only drawn national attention but also has left the state government red-faced.
