Time for India to take lead in medical devices sector, says Mandaviya

India has been recognised as the "pharmacy of the world" and it is now time for India to become the leader in the manufacturing of affordable, innovative and quality medical devices, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday.

Mandaviya, during his inaugural address at 'India MedTech Expo 2023', underlined that India is the fastest-growing medical devices market among the emerging markets.

'India MedTech Expo 2023' was held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on the sidelines of the G20 Health Ministers' meeting.

Mandaviya said that 'MedTech Expo 2023 draws inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India atmanirbhar or self-reliant. "It will be a unique, all-encompassing platform to showcase the strength and potential of the Indian Medical Devices ecosystem," the health minister said.

"Our goal is to become self-reliant in the medical device sector and reduce our import dependency which also perfectly aligns with our vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', and 'Make in India, Make for the World'," Mandaviya said.

"FDI up to 100 per cent under the automatic route is permitted for the manufacturing of medical devices," he added.

The health minister also said that for the medical devices sector in India, the government has undertaken various steps to improve the ease of doing business, facilitate technological advancements and simplify investment mechanisms.

Highlighting the new initiatives taken by the Union government under the sector, Mandaviya said that besides the National Medical Device Policy 2023, the government has recently launched the the Export Promotion Council for Medical Ddevices and a scheme for assistance of medical device cluster to promote infrastructure development and strengthen the testing facilities for medical devices in the country."

He also said that a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme was launched for promoting domestic manufacturing of medical devices with a total financial outlay of Rs 3,420 crore for four target segments of medical devices.

We have also come up with the 'Promotion of Medical Devices Parks' scheme with a total financial outlay of Rs 400 crores for the creation of common infrastructure facilities to give a boost to manufacturing and promote innovation, research and product development, he said.

Mandaviya added that under the scheme, final approval for financial assistance of Rs 100 crore each has been given to Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Mandaviya said that the start-up ecosystem in India's medical devices sector is diverse and vibrant, with over 250 organisations engaged in addressing important health issues.

Just within two to three months of COVID-19, the world had witnessed and recognised India's efforts and the support it gave to other nations by providing medical diagnostic kits, ventilators, Rapid Antigen Test kits, RT-PCR kits, IR thermometers, PPE kits and N-95 masks at a very fast pace," he said.

The health minister also informed that the government is investing hugely in building better infrastructure which will increase the demand for smarter technology and advanced medical devices.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel and NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul also attended the medical technology expo.