Chandra Ganjoo, Group Chief Executive Officer, Trivitron stresses that the public’s capacity to obtain affordable, high-quality healthcare is a major concern due to heavy import dependency. Moreover, India’s economic dependence on the import of medical equipment negatively influences the nation’s healthcare system, particularly in rural areas
Over the past 50 years, the Indian healthcare system has made several remarkable advancements, particularly in terms of life expectancy, infant mortality, and the use of smart solutions for successfully treating many dreaded diseases. The public’s capacity to obtain affordable, high-quality healthcare is a major concern due to heavy import dependency. Moreover, India’s economic dependence on the import of medical equipment negatively influences the nation’s healthcare system, particularly in rural areas.
India imports between 75 and 80 per cent of the medical equipment it uses, with the government playing a major role in creating an environment favorable to expanding the medical technology sector in India. To promote innovation, the government and the business community must cooperate. Several demands exist on the government and the business community for the medical technology sector to have sustained growth. To overcome the barriers, the government introduced the PLI scheme for medical equipment to reduce imports and turn India into a center for exports. The government will provide a 5 per cent bonus on further sales for a limited time. The PLI scheme’s incentives for producers will aid in controlling production costs, which are now higher than rival countries.
Moreover, large amounts of expensive medical technology are imported into India. In reality, imports account for nearly 75 per cent of the Indian market for medical technology. It’s important to note that, despite India’s medical technology industry being heavily dependent on imports, approximately 60 per cent of what is produced is exported. In some cases, exports account for up to 75 per cent of a company’s revenue. However, India exports very few high-end, high-tech goods compared to other emerging nations. Various indigenous organisation has made good strides in reach, client satisfaction and relationships, scientifically based solutions, R&D, and production. The next stage of business is quite intriguing, especially for the Indian medical device industry, which is the country’s burgeoning healthcare industry and is setting down roots to provide the highest caliber of medical treatment worldwide.
Global medical technology companies are forced to consider expanding their manufacturing in India due to growing input costs. The medical technology sector is expanding due to changing patient demographics, better healthcare funding and delivery systems, and evolving medical technology. However, a few significant roadblocks have hindered the industry’s development. The cost of imports for these businesses in India has soared due to the devaluation of the rupee against the dollar, freight costs that have climbed five times from pre-pandemic levels, and hefty import levies, forcing them to consider the possibility of transferring some manufacturing there.
The current demand and supply for medical devices in India are vastly out of balance, which presents a tremendous opportunity for device manufacturers. The vast underutilisation of medical devices in India is currently being pursued by numerous medical device makers (both domestic and foreign) as a significant growth opportunity. Moreover, the demand for novel applications is growing, and transformative technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, next-generation sequencing (NGS), information technology, and enhanced imaging are being integrated. With native manufacturing, the leading players in the medtech industry concentrate on producing the highest quality indigenous medical devices and diagnostic products to make healthcare equitable and accessible by providing high-quality care products to millions of people.
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