The challenges of reliance on imports and untapped domestic potential remain, even if the National Medical Devices Policy, 2023, is a major improvement.
India produces medical devices valued at roughly $7.6 billion; $3.4 billion goes outside, and $4.2 billion stays in the country. But, imports make $7.6 billion of India’s $11.8 billion annual demand for medical products. In this way, foreign companies provide 65% of the market’s demand while domestic ones supply just 35%.
By 2030, the industry may have grown from $12 billion to $50 billion. With an increase in exports from 3.4 billion to 18 billion, India’s medical device industry will decrease its dependence on imports from 64.6% to 35% by 2030.
It may lead to the creation of about 1.5 million jobs in the healthcare industry, specifically in the production of medical devices and in related service industries like hospitals and labs.
Why It’s Important
According to the research, six main factors could promote innovation in India’s medical devices market.
- Policies and Regulations that Are Conducive
- Consider medical devices independently of pharmaceutical products in upcoming legislation.
- Align with global norms and standards, exploring regulatory convergence.
- Simplify and streamline IP processes to reduce associated costs.
- Implement strong monitoring mechanisms for prompt policy implementation.
- Encouraging Investigations
- Provide tax incentives for innovation.
- Offer research grants and workforce training.
- Support clinical trials and implement a patent box regime.
- Secure Online Network
- Promote the use of data for innovation while ensuring data privacy.
- Adopt digital health technologies, including AI-driven diagnostics and telemedicine.
- Allocate funds for maintaining and expanding digital capabilities.
- Private-Public Partnerships (PPP)
- Encourage manufacturers to leverage PPPs.
- Facilitate dialogue and partnerships between academia, healthcare providers, and private-sector device players.
- Forge partnerships to serve the domestic market.
- Conducive Ecosystem
- Foster dialogue between hospitals, manufacturers, and startups.
- Establish a globally-inclined startup ecosystem in collaboration with academic institutions.
- Channel resources into medical device parks to reduce competition for investments.
- Highlight clinical evidence and publish results to build consumer trust.
- Developing a Multi-Skilled Workforce
- Foster dialogue between hospitals, manufacturers, and startups.
- Establish a globally-inclined startup ecosystem in collaboration with academic institutions.
- Channel resources into medical device parks to reduce competition for investments.
- Highlight clinical evidence and publish results to build consumer trust.
- Explore innovative funding models like risk-sharing.
- Healthcare providers collaborate with innovators for design inputs and test beds.
Healthcare and Medical Device Industry Predictions in India
| 2022 | 2030 | CAGR |
Healthcare Sector
| India’s market size,$ billion | 200 | 600 | 14.7 |
Medical Device Sector
| India’s market size,$ billion | 12 | 50 | 19.5 |
| Imports, $ billion | 7.6 | 17.5 | 10.9 |
| Import dependence, % | 64.6 | 35 | -7.4 |
| Domestic production, $ billion | 7.6 | 50.5 | 26.7 |
| Domestic supply, $ billion | 4.2 | 32.5 | 29.1 |
| Exports, $ billion | 3.4 | 18 | 23.2 |
| Per capita use, $ | 8.6 | 35 | 19.2 |
Syringes, needles, intravenous cannulas, surgical blades, surgical gloves, intraocular lenses, stents, ventilators, X-ray equipment, intraocular lenses, intraocular lenses, and contraceptives are just a few of India’s many medical products.
Among the many important and high-tech medical products it manufactures are ophthalmic exciter lasers, high-tech operating microscopes, robotic-assisted surgery systems, heart valves, and joint implants.
It gets worse for the medical device industry. India spends just $8.6 per capita on medical technology, compared to the worldwide average of $75.
In contrast, projections show that by 2030, India’s healthcare market will have grown from $200 billion to $600 billion, bringing the per capita cost up to $35.
Medical tourism, telemedicine, and large-scale hospital spending will fuel expansion. It would also help if the worldwide commerce in medical equipment could reach $800 billion by 2030, up from $450 billion now.
Manufacturing Opportunity in India’s Market
The medical device manufacturing industry in India is experiencing a golden age because of a confluence of favorable demand and supply factors.
Government Policies: National Medical Devices Policy
An in-depth review of the policy, covering its most important components and the manner in which it intends to encourage growth and help the medical device industry become more self-sufficient.
How is the government attempting to create an inviting environment for businesses, bring down the amount of red tape, and encourage investments in the medical device industry? This is referred to as “ease of doing business.”
Innovations and technological advancements
Investments in research and development It is important to investigate the ways in which rising investments in research and development contribute to innovation in the medical device industry, which in turn is leading to the creation of innovative technology.
Relationships and Collaborations
Bring attention to the relationships between Indian medical device businesses and their worldwide counterparts to promote the transfer of technology and the sharing of expertise.
Infrastructure Development: Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
Discuss the construction of SEZs exclusively devoted to the medical device industry, aiming to attract investments and support local manufacturing.
In order to ensure that there is a pool of qualified individuals who can contribute to the expansion of the medical device industry, it is important to address programs that are targeted at improving the skill set of this workforce.
Challenges and Solutions
In order to make the regulatory process for the sector more streamlined, it is important to investigate the existing issues with regulation and the ways in which the government is attempting to overcome them.
A discussion of the significance of conforming to international quality standards and the manner in which the sector is working towards reaching these requirements is included in this section.
It is necessary to fix a few challenges that hinder the growth of indigenous medical device production in India.
Included in this category are factors related to the overall economy, the ecosystem in which medical devices work, and the medical devices business itself.
1. The medical device sector
Problems with the current regulatory framework include an unfavorable price structure, low local demand for some product segments, complicated and transparent rules, a lack of effective IP protection regulations and weak enforcement mechanisms, and an absence of an indigenous “quality certification” body.
2. Ecosystem for Medical Devices
• A medical device manufacturing facility that lacks sufficient support from suppliers, raw materials, etc.
• The lack of a well-defined paradigm for the “Innovate in India” project
3. Long-Term Ecosystem
Licensing regime (which) facilitates conducting business
length of time at many levels, regulations, and federal and state governmental procedures
• Labor regulations that are too stringent
• Greater financing costs
Wrapping It Up
India moved to the number five spot on the list of top ten economies by GDP in the past decade, proving that medical device businesses in today’s constantly changing world must expand their global search for prospects beyond the conventional powerhouses of China, Japan, and Europe. These days, not only is India an attractive market, but it is also a highly desired supply chain partner for both domestic and international businesses.
Medical equipment sold all over the world is always evolving because of India’s technological skills. Other companies have already established a presence in India, either independently or through intermediaries. It could be a costly error for many companies to put off dealing with India. To all of our relief, the Indian government has officially invited international players in the medical technology industry to set up business in the country.