The medical device market in India, currently valued at $11 billion, is poised to grow exponentially to $50 billion by 2025. Despite this growth, over 80 per cent of the market relies on imports due to limited indigenous manufacturing. However, this trend is shifting as India emerges as a hub for medtech innovation, with local innovators developing groundbreaking medical products and solutions. India’s healthtech/medtech ecosystem is at an inflection point, experiencing rapid expansion.
MedTech startups in India face three primary challenges in their early stages. The first challenge is clinical trials and validation. Given that the government is the largest healthcare provider in India, facilitating early validation of medtech devices and services could significantly accelerate the development and deployment of new healthcare technologies.
The second challenge is common across all startups: acquiring the initial set of customers. With the government being the largest healthcare provider, a mechanism should exist for it to become an early adopter of innovative products and services. Unfortunately, government procurement policies, which require a minimum of three participants in a tender and prioritise L1 procurement, do not currently support the procurement of innovative products. Truly innovative products with unique intellectual property often lack the three participants needed for a tender, hindering their adoption.
The third challenge relates to the development and large-scale adoption of AI in healthcare. AI has the potential to fundamentally transform healthcare, making modern care accessible and affordable by reducing costs. For AI startups to thrive, they need access to large amounts of anonymised data. As the largest healthcare provider, the public healthcare system generates the most data. Therefore, the government should create a platform to provide anonymised data to support AI development in healthcare.
India has all the essential ingredients for exponential growth in healthtech and medtech. These include a large population, a robust pharma and medical supply chain, 750 million smartphone users, the third-largest startup pool globally, easy access to VC funding, and innovative tech entrepreneurs. Consequently, Indian startups are well-positioned to lead the next wave of global healthcare innovations.