India has emerged among the world’s top five healthcare manufacturers, but at a much lesser cost, says Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh

Amidst global competition for hi-tech medical devices, India has emerged among the world’s top five healthcare manufacturers, but at a much lesser cost, said Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh today. India is manufacturing life-saving high-risk medical devices but the cost is just a fraction of the rest, he said.

The Minister was delivering the Inaugural Address at the 8th CAHOTECH, Annual International Healthcare Technology Conference, organized by the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO) in New Delhi.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said Medical Devices is considered as one of the sunrise sectors in the country and the Government under Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s leadership is taking every possible step to make India its manufacturing hub.

“India is set to become the global hub of medical technology and devices with the market size estimated to grow up to US$ 50 billion by 2050 from the present $11 Bn (approximately, ₹ 90,000 Cr),” he said.

“From a market share of 1.5 percent, we hope to increase India’s market share to 10-12 percent over the next 25 years,” he added.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, medical devices have been identified as a priority sector by the Modi Government and it is committed to strengthening the indigenously manufacturing ecosystem.

“The National Medical Device Policy 2023 and the setting up of the Export-Promotion Council for Medical Devices are aimed at making India the medical devices manufacturing hub. Besides, 100% FDI under the automatic route for both Greenfield & Brownfield setups and the ‘Promotion of Medical Devices Parks’ scheme serve to catalyze research and manufacturing. Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has led to 43 critical Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) being produced within the country which were earlier imported from abroad,” he said.

The Central Government is supporting the setting up of 4 Medical Devices Parks in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. Under the PLI scheme for Medical Devices, till now, a total of 26 projects have been approved, with a committed investment of Rs.1,206 Cr, and out of this, so far, an investment of Rs.714 Cr has been achieved. Out of the 26 projects, 14 projects producing 37 products have been commissioned and domestic manufacturing of high-end medical devices has started which include Linear Accelerator, MRI Scan, CT-Scan, Mammogram, C-Arm, MRI Coils, high-end X-ray tubes, etc. 

Dr. Jitendra Singh said technologies such as the ones developed by the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, like the artificial heart valve, hydrocephalus shunt, oxygenator, and drug-eluting intra uterine device are being manufactured only in the US, Japan, Brazil, and China.

“The world-class medical devices made indigenously are available to Indian patients at approximately one-fourth to one-third price of their imported counterparts. This reflects the Atmanirbhar vision of PM Modi to become self-reliant in medical devices as well as medical management,” he said.

Dr Jitendra Singh said the high-powered Magnetron developed by CSIR-CEERI (Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute), Pilani for commercial use is a path-breaking technology for Oncologists to treat even 2 mm diameter brain tumors with precision radiation with very little side-effects. 

Dr Jitendra Singh on August 1, 2023, launched India’s first Indigenously developed, Affordable, lightweight, Ultrafast, High Field (1.5 Tesla), Next Generation Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanner in New Delhi. 

“With the indigenous MRI scanner, the cost of MRI scanning is expected to reduce considerably for the common man thus allowing a wider access to the otherwise highly priced MRI scans. Additionally, the capital investment of procurement of MRI scanners from the international market will be substantially reduced which in turn will save a lot of foreign exchange,” he said.

“Almost 70% of the world’s population has zero access to MRI diagnostic modality. The reason is prohibitively high capital costs which is a problem in developing countries like India. Currently, there is an annual demand of less than 350 machines, but because of the several initiatives of the Government to improve healthcare access and inclusiveness, including the flagship Ayushman Bharat initiative, the annual demand is expected to more than double by 2030,” he said.

The Minister said, India will address many of these problems by making available the first indigenously developed MRI Scanner which is affordable compared to the already available machines. He said, it also offers a prospect of sharing this success with other nations in the Global South to help them to have access to affordable and dependable medical imaging solutions.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, with the handholding of the Technology Development Board (TDB), Panacea Medical Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore last year launched India’s first most advanced & innovative SBRT-enabled Linear Accelerator (LINAC), Siddharth, capable of performing treatment modalities like 3DCRT, VMAT, IMRT, SBRT and SRS. He said this is only the third brand in the world that is ready for the market besides two global giants UK and Japan. 

“In line with Modi Government’s mantra of ‘Make in India’ with ‘Made for the World’, the machine can be exported to many countries in the world as the company has already received US FDA clearance,” he said.

The S&T Minister said the Government has circulated the latest draft of the Drugs, Medical Devices, and Cosmetics Bill 2023 which has a provision that allows the government to regulate, restrict, or ban the online sale or distribution of any drugs by notification.

“In a country with 70% population below the age of 40 and the youth of today are going to be the prime citizens of India@2047, preventive healthcare, and widespread mass screening will help achieve our economy the expected rate of growth set out by PM Modi, he said.                             

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