This year, while the Prime Minister is keen to have a ‘Make in India’ policy and has announced 100 per cent FDI for medical devices, unfortunately, the ground level changes are required for making India Import independent in around 10 years from now. India is moving from 50 per cent import dependency five years ago to over 75 per cent currently and if corrective steps are not taken, we will soon be 90 per cent import dependent in this Rs 35,000 crores medical devices industry. Care should be taken to keep the domestic companies of Indian origin viable and sustainable to ensure access and affordability to larger section of Indian population. The market of medical devices is estimated at over Rs 35,000 crores and there is a huge manufacturing potential for import substitution for catering to domestic demand as well as tap the huge potential of the export market (as done by China, Brazil, Turkey, Malaysia etc). In the upcoming budget this year, we are expecting the government to look at medical technology as a vital sector and promote Indian manufacturing by removing inverse duty structure, providing fiscal incentives for local innovation and manufacturing initiatives, Offer proper incentives for exports from India and creating a medical devices unit under Department of Pharmaceuticals to promote local innovation/ manufacturing in this import dependent industry.
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