Govt tenders may opt for local medical devices

At present, 70% of medical devices are imported in India

The Department of Pharmaceuticals is exploring ways of using the general financial rules on procurement to give preference to medical devices manufacturers from the country while bidding for government tenders.
 
The general financial rules, released by the finance ministry in March, are supposed to give the domestic manufacturing industry a push.
 
“We are also going to use the preferential purchase rules laid down by the finance ministry to purchase medical devices from domestic manufacturers for government tenders. This could finally be in place by next month,” a senior official of the department said.
 
According to the rules