India aspires to cut MedTech import dependence to 50% in 5 years

New Delhi: The central government is in the process of formulating standards around 500 medical devices produced in the country, and working closely with the industry to reduce India’s dependence on imports of medical technology, Secretary of the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Arunish Chawla said on Tuesday.

Around 75-80 per cent of medical devices used in India are imported. “In the next five years, we want to bring down this import dependence to less than 50 per cent,” Chawla told reporters after chairing a Medtech stakeholders consultation meeting organised by CII.

The secretary emphasised on the need for focusing on quality to make the country’s medical device industry globally competitive.

“Zero defect, full effect, this is our mission. Through BIS, we are making product standards for medical devices which would be comparable to ISO,” Chawla said.

He said India has already set standards for 1,500 products and the formulation of standards for around 500 products is in the process. This will take the total number of medical devices with BIS standards to 2,000.  

The secretary expressed hope that the size of India’s medical technology industry would increase to $50 billion by 2030 from around $14 billion now. To achieve this target the industry would require a compound annual growth of 28 per cent.

Currently, India is the 4th largest market for medical devices in Asia and among the top 20 globally. During the financial year 2022-23, India’s net imports of medical devices stood at $4.10 billion. The majority of these imports came from the US, China and Germany.

Referring to the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, Chawla said the government incentives have played a stellar role in boosting the growth of the medical devices sector.

“Around 150 medical devices, which used to be imported earlier, are now being produced in the country. Even exports have started now of such products,” he said.