Giving A Boost To Medical Devices

Present import tariff on medical devices is counter productive to the idea of affordable healthcare in India.

- Kaustav Banerjee

India is one of the largest market for medical devices, primarily low risk and high volume devices in the nature of disposable and consumables like syringes, sutures etc. It also hold tremendous potential for devices classified as high risk which include implantable and prosthesis like pacemakers, defibrillators, heart valves, coronary stents etc. Presently, the penetration of high end technologies is very low compared to developed nations mainly due to lack of awareness, operator skills and inadequate health financing. Despite the fact that there are more than 800 medical device manufacturers in India, the industry is largely dominated by imported products with more than 70% of total market share. The domestic companies are mostly involved in manufacturing low risk, high volume products like syringes and sutures.

The government wants to promote R&D and manufacturing of medical devices through ‘Make in India’ initiative. This vision has been backed by Prime Minister's Office (PMO) with the intention to help India emerge as a major hub for manufacturing and make medical devices more accessible and affordable. The government also permitted 100% FDI in the medical devices sector through automatic route to support ‘Make in India’ further.