A Rs 500 crore MedTech programme has been established by the Indian government to assist local producers of medical equipment in resuming production and turning to exporting.It is believed that this action will increase export prospects of these gadgets and also solve the talent deficit problem in the industry. The Medtech scheme will help Indian manufacturers seize the potential to achieve a market size of US$ 20 billion by 2026-2027.
Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, Aimed said that the domestic players who had
become traders and importers and shifted to pseudo manufacturing will now be again motivated to become actual manufacturers and produce complete products and their components in house.
The current export of medical devices from India stands at US$ 3.7 billion, making it the fourth largest market in Asia. The government will offer financial support to medical device clusters to establish common infrastructure like R&D labs and design and testing centers, strengthen the Medtech supply chain by encouraging local manufacturing of essential components, and provide financial assistance to industry associations and export councils to organise events like conferences and exhibitions.
The domestic medical devices manufacturing industry can offer cost-effective and innovative products for both domestic and overseas markets. The key segments of the product portfolio include diagnostic imaging, consumables, patient aids, dental products, and orthopaedic implants. The annual growth rate of exports of medical equipment and devices in India has started to supersede the growth of imports, with an impressive 13.8 per cent annual growth rate over the last three years. With this new Medtech Scheme, domestic manufacturers can even achieve a market size of US$ 50 billion by 2030.
