Indian medical devices industry has potential to reach $50 billion by 2030: Mansukh Mandaviya

Indian medical devices industry has the potential to grow at 28 per cent each year to reach $50 billion by 2030, union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Friday.

The central government, he said is planning to further boost India’s strengths of skilled manpower, ease of business through its industry-friendly rules which offer a huge market. Medical devices constitute a multi-disciplinary sector with the following broad classification--Electronic equipment, Implants, Consumables and Disposables, Surgical instruments and In-Vitro Diagnostic Reagents.

The current market size of the medical devices sector in India is estimated to be $11 billion and its share in the global medical device market is estimated to be 1.5 per cent. The sector in India is witnessing fast growth with a CAGR of 10-12 per cent over the last decade, as per government data.

“Indian medical devices industry has the power to emerge as the global leader in manufacturing and innovation in next 25 years. We are trying to build an ecosystem for innovation in medical devices and drugs, thereby enhancing the industry-academia linkages to a greater extent,” said the minister who also holds chemicals and fertilisers portfolio.

The first ever expo being spearheaded by the central government in association with the Indian medical devices industry, the three-day IMTE-22 will start on 9th December 2022 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The purpose of the India MedTech Expo is to showcase the strength and potential of the Indian MedTech Industry, the innovation ecosystem of the country and the strong academia which is nurturing entrepreneurship relentlessly. IMTE-22 is expected to have the participation of more than 450 Indian MedTech companies including big companies, MSMEs and start-ups.

“The Indian medical devices sector’s contribution has become even more prominent since India supported the domestic and global battle against covid-19 pandemic through the production of medical devices and diagnostic kits, such as ventilators, Rapid Antigen Test kits, RT-PCR kits, IR thermometers, PPE kits and N-95 masks,” said Mandaviya.

The government has noted that several segments in the medical device industry are highly capital intensive with long gestation period, requiring continuous induction of new technologies and training of healthcare professionals to adapt to new technologies and bring rapid innovation. Medical devices undergo safety, quality and efficacy tests through processes defined by the regulator before they get placed on the market for sale.

“The department of pharmaceuticals has been working to ensure a stable long-term policy environment and reduce the compliance burden on the Industry,” said S Aparna, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals.