Andhra Pradesh is emerging as an important centre for prosthetics, orthotics, rehabilitation and assistive-technology development in southern India. The state combines an extensive public healthcare network with district-level disability services and the growing medical-technology ecosystem centred on Visakhapatnam.
According to the Andhra Pradesh Directorate of Economics and Statistics, the state has a population of approximately 49.6 million across 28 districts. Its geography stretches from the long Bay of Bengal coastline to inland agricultural and tribal communities, creating considerable variation in access to specialist rehabilitation.
Major cities such as Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Tirupati, Kurnool, Nellore and Rajamahendravaram provide the strongest concentration of tertiary healthcare and private rehabilitation services. However, many people in rural, coastal, hilly and tribal areas must still travel significant distances for specialist prosthetic and orthotic assessment, fabrication, fitting and follow-up.
Disability Assessment Through SADAREM
One of Andhra Pradesh’s most distinctive disability-service systems is SADAREM, the Software for Assessment of Disabled for Access, Rehabilitation and Empowerment.
The state government created SADAREM as a centralised digital system for the scientific assessment of disability, generation of disability certificates and maintenance of a database to support planning and access to welfare programmes.
The platform is important because certification is often the gateway to government benefits, pensions, concessions, assistive devices and other disability-related support. Locomotor disability represents a major part of the system’s workload and is particularly relevant to prosthetists, orthotists, physiotherapists, rehabilitation physicians and orthopaedic departments.
In March 2026, more than 57,000 people reportedly registered within 24 hours after online booking reopened for a new round of SADAREM assessments. Approximately 31,000 of those applications related to locomotor disability. The scale of demand illustrates both the importance of the programme and the continuing need for adequate clinical assessment capacity.
Certification, however, is only one stage of rehabilitation. People identified through SADAREM may also require detailed functional assessment, prosthetic or orthotic provision, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, repairs, replacement devices and long-term follow-up.
District Disability Rehabilitation Centres
District Disability Rehabilitation Centres, or DDRCs, are intended to bring multidisciplinary services closer to communities. Their potential responsibilities include disability identification, therapy, counselling, assistive-device provision, referral and coordination with other government programmes.
A Lok Sabha response published in August 2025 stated that the national DDRC scheme envisages one centre in every district, subject to cooperation and proposals from state governments.
The parliamentary annexure recorded grants released during the preceding five years to DDRCs in ten Andhra Pradesh locations:
- Anakapalli
- East Godavari
- Kakinada
- Konaseema
- Kurnool
- Nandyala
- Palnadu
- Vizianagaram
- West Godavari/Eluru
- YSR district
These centres could play a much larger role in decentralising prosthetic and orthotic care, particularly when connected to teaching hospitals, trained rehabilitation professionals and dependable fabrication and repair services.
The priority is not simply distributing devices. Effective provision requires appropriate prescription, accurate measurement, safe fabrication, fitting, gait or functional training, user education and access to adjustment and repair.
Five New Artificial-Limb Manufacturing Units
A major development announced in June 2026 was the proposed establishment of artificial-limb and assistive-device manufacturing units at five government teaching hospitals.
The first-phase locations are:
- Visakhapatnam
- Vijayawada
- Ongole
- Tirupati
- Kurnool
According to The New Indian Express, the centres are expected to support measurement, casting, thermoplastic moulding, fabrication, assembly, fitting, rehabilitation and repairs. The proposed product range includes prosthetic limbs, orthoses, wheelchairs, hearing aids and other assistive devices.
The initiative is being developed with support from the Government of India and the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India. If the centres are equipped and staffed as planned, they could reduce the cost and travel burden faced by people currently dependent on distant facilities or occasional distribution camps.
Their long-term success will depend on sustained staffing, clinical governance, component availability, workshop maintenance, outcome monitoring and timely follow-up—not simply the number of devices produced.
Visakhapatnam’s Growing National Role
Visakhapatnam gives Andhra Pradesh a distinctive position within India’s medical-device sector through the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone.
AMTZ describes itself as one of the world’s largest medical-technology manufacturing clusters, bringing together more than 100 companies and shared scientific facilities for testing, prototyping, machining, biomaterials and 3D printing.
For the prosthetics and orthotics sector, this provides an unusual opportunity to connect clinical practice with product development, validation, advanced manufacturing and indigenous assistive technology. The AMTZ campus includes an Artificial Limb Centre and has hosted national professional and para-sport events.
In 2026, AMTZ and Narayan Seva Sansthan announced a five-year partnership focused on developing affordable indigenous prosthetic, orthotic and assistive technologies. The collaboration is expected to combine AMTZ’s research and manufacturing infrastructure with Narayan Seva Sansthan’s clinical and rehabilitation experience.
Areas identified for development include prosthetic limbs, powered and myoelectric technologies, orthotic footwear, mobility products and other assistive devices. This could help Andhra Pradesh contribute not only to local service provision but also to India’s wider objective of reducing dependence on imported rehabilitation technology.
A New Educational Milestone
Another important development is the launch of Andhra Pradesh’s first Bachelor of Prosthetics and Orthotics programme at AMTZ.
A local BPO programme can help address one of the state’s most important limitations: the availability of appropriately trained prosthetists and orthotists. Expanding the number of workshops or distributing more components will have limited impact without professionals capable of assessment, prescription, design, fabrication, fitting and follow-up.
Locating education within a medical-technology cluster may also expose students to research, digital workflows, additive manufacturing, materials testing and product development. The programme could eventually support a stronger link between education, clinical services, government provision and industry.
Opportunities and Priorities
Andhra Pradesh now has many of the building blocks required for a stronger rehabilitation system: a digital disability-assessment platform, district rehabilitation centres, teaching hospitals, planned fabrication units, a major medical-technology cluster and an emerging professional education pathway.
The next phase should focus on connecting these elements into a coordinated pathway. Priorities include:
- Expanding qualified prosthetist-orthotist staffing
- Strengthening district-level referral and follow-up systems
- Ensuring reliable repair and replacement services
- Developing outreach for rural and tribal communities
- Integrating physiotherapy and occupational therapy with device provision
- Supporting locally appropriate and affordable technologies
- Monitoring comfort, function, participation and device usage
- Including users and disability organisations in service planning
Andhra Pradesh has the potential to become one of India’s most important centres for integrated prosthetic, orthotic and assistive-technology development. Its success will ultimately be measured not by the number of facilities announced or devices distributed, but by whether people can obtain appropriate, functional and maintainable solutions close to where they live.
- Andhra Pradesh Directorate of Economics and Statistics
- SADAREM – Government of Andhra Pradesh
- Andhra Pradesh Differently Abled and Senior Citizens Assistance Corporation
- Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone
- AMTZ Artificial Limb Centre
- Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India
- Lok Sabha information on District Disability Rehabilitation Centres
- Five artificial-limb units planned for Andhra Pradesh teaching hospitals
- Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016