The country imported $6.24 billion worth of medical devices in FY21. These figures in FY20 were $5.84 billion and approx $5.7 billion in FY2019
India imported medical electronic equipment worth over $3.6 billion during FY21. The country’s import bill for medical devices has been on an increase during the last three years. The central as well as the state governments have been trying to promote local manufacturing of such devices in the country.
The country imported $6.24 billion worth of medical devices in FY21. These figures in FY20 were $5.84 billion and approx $5.7 billion in FY2019. Electronics equipment held a major portion of medical devices imports made by the country in FY21. It is worth mentioning here that India is one of the top exporters of generic medicines in the world, but the situation in terms of medical devices, seem to be not improving despite the recent approval to production linkedin incentive scheme for medical devices.
The PLI approvals had noted that the production of devices in the country will start from April 2022, and the setting up of these plants will lead to a total committed investment of Rs 729.63 crore by the approved companies and employment generation of about 2,304. The government of India, while announcing the scheme, had admitted that the Medical Device Sector in India suffers from a considerable cost of manufacturing disability vis-à-vis competing economies, inter alia, on account of lack of adequate infrastructure, domestic supply chain and logistics, high cost of finance, inadequate availability of power, limited design capabilities, low focus on research and development (R&D) and skill development etc.
Cancer care, radiotherapy medical devices, radiology & imaging medical devices, nuclear imaging devices, anesthetics, cardio-respiratory medical devices, renal care medical devices and all medical implants have been included in the target segments of medical devices eligible under the PLI scheme.
India is counted as the fourth largest medical device market in Asia. It follows Japan, China, and South Korea on the list. India’s current population is the second-largest in the world. Interestingly, it is only China that has a larger population base than India. Against India’s population of 138.72 crore, China’s population as on first January was approximately 143. 93 crore. Japan’s approximate population, on the same date, was approx 12.64 crores, whereas South Korea’s 5.12 crore.
