 "medical devices")
With the National Medical Devices Policy, 2023, notified this week by the Centre, the medical technology (medtech) industry feels it could potentially create a $10-billion (Rs 80,000-crore) investment opportunity.
In a presentation to the Centre by the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD), it has said there is potential to attract Rs 80,000 crore investment to the sector.
AiMeD represents 1,200 medical device manufacturers. It said it is targeting 1,200 technical collaborations of $5 million (Rs 40 crore) each for Indian investors, adding up to $6 billion (Rs 48,000 crore). There is potential to have 200 joint ventures (at $10 million, or Rs 80 crore each) by overseas foreign investment, equalling $2 billion (Rs 16,000 crore). Moreover, 50 multinational medical device makers can invest up to $2 billion (Rs 16,000 crore).
In total, the sector can attract $10 billion (Rs 80,000 crore) investment in the Rs 1.6-trillion medtech market in India.
Several manufacturers, who had started operations or scaled up during in 2020, are now struggling with excess capacity with pandemic-activated demand drying up.
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Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator, AiMeD, and chairman and managing director, Hindustan Syringes and Medical Device, one of the top three disposable syringe makers in the world, says they are working closely working with the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the Ministry of Commerce to act as facilitator between the government and medical device manufacturers for capacity utilisation of the ramped-up capacity.
“We are trying to address marketing challenges, as well as manufacturing viability, after the national emergency,” he adds.
Meanwhile, India’s pharmaceutical and medical device pricing regulator — the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority — is set to meet industry representatives in mid-May to discuss matters related to pricing.
The National Medical Devices Policy, 2023, also says it looks to encourage private investment in the sector by creating an ecosystem for risk-based/risk-adjusted financing through an active outreach engagement, such as promoting seed capital and Series funding from venture capital (VC) funds, as well as inviting VCs to screen start-up incubators.
The policy further says it aims at encouraging new financing models, such as blended finance, which will have a mix of public and private funds. It also aims at leveraging programmes like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission for public procurement and encouraging domestic manufacturing.
Commenting on the policy, Nath says, “These are broad strokes. Nothing not spelt out just yet. But that’s expected in a policy — to give a much-needed direction to over 20 stakeholder ministries and departments.”
About 80-85 per cent of medical devices sold in India are imported. The new policy has the vision to achieve 10-12 per cent share in the expanding global market over the next 25 years from the present-day 1.5 per cent. Moreover, the policy is expected to help the medical device sector to grow from the existing $11 billion (Rs 90,000 crore) to $50 billion (Rs 4.5 trillion) by 2030.
