Govt & Medtech Firms to Boost Indigenous Development of Advanced Equipment

In terms of using these medical devices, India imports almost 80 to 85 percent of them; hence, the government and the private sector are prompted towards the idea of self-reliance with respect to high-end equipment manufacture.

There is a concrete step taken towards the intended goal of developing self-reliance in medical equipment because the first indigenously developed 1.5 Tesla MRI machine in the country will be set up by AIIMS New Delhi by October; the machine will have same research efforts with SAMEER, which is an R&D body under the Ministry of Electronics and IT.

Approval from CDSCO for commercial manufacturing of MRI scanners has also been granted to a Bengaluru-based firm called Voxelgrids Innovations. Priced around 50% less than imported ones, these machines cost between ?3 crores and ?4.5 crores.

As per the figures by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, India brought in $8.1 billion worth of medical devices during FY24, with exports summing up to $3.7 billion. Import dependency not only self-reliance in terms of critical health care but also affordability and access enhancement.

IIT Kanpur is in the process of developing the first indigenous Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) called Hridayantra, which is said to last for about ten years to twelve years. However, it still needs pre-clinical approvals, and by 2027, it is set to be made commercial at one-fifth the cost of existing devices.

IIT Kanpur team stated, "A prototype of the artificial heart has been developed, and we are now in the process of obtaining all the essential ethical approvals for animal testing, followed by exacting clinical trials."

SS Innovations has launched SSI Mantra, India’s first mobile tele-robotic surgery unit, besides working on pediatric surgical robots and mobile operating rooms. Owner Sudhir Srivastava points out that manufacturing locally brings down costs across the system and consumables.

It is believed by experts that the manufacturing of equipment locally will lower treatment costs since India has just banned all imports of refurbished medical equipment on safety grounds. Under the PLI scheme, this brings opportunities for domestic firms in the market.

The refurbished devices market was estimated to be ?1,500 crore and accounted for only 10% of the medical equipment market of India. Thus, now that the country has placed a ban on refurbished devices, local manufacturers would be competing against less cheaper imports and could forecast greatly their demands, which would encourage investments in indigenous innovation.

“By manufacturing these technologies within India, costs can be significantly reduced due to lower production expenses, reduced import duties, and locally available spare parts and consumables", added Himanshu Baid, Managing Director of Medical Device Maker Poly Medicure.

An executive with another medical device association said, "The pre-owned medical equipment market is currently valued at ?1,500 crore and can constitute around 10 per cent of the total medical equipment industry in India, playing a critical role in meeting the growing demand in Tier-II, -III, and -IV cities, as well as rural and underserved areas."