The market for medical equipment in India is valued at Rs 5,750 crore and is expected to grow at around 23 per cent annually for the next few years. Medical equipment can be categorised into diagnostic and surgical, with the latter having 55 per cent market share.
Fast growth of the surgical equipment market is restricted to urban areas — semi-urban and rural areas remain largely untapped and provide a huge growth opportunity.
In recent years, liberalisation and growing health awareness has accelerated growth of the domestic industry and also led to a rise in imports of medical and surgical instruments. Increasing health awareness, advancements in equipment design as well as a rise in infectious diseases are some of the key factors driving the demand for surgical equipment in the country.
Some hurdles in growth of the industry are the dependence on imports, strict regulations, large spread of the grey market and low level of healthcare insurance.