Highlighting hindrances faced over the last year and opportunities in store to the highest potential for India

New Delhi, INDIA — August 28, 2015: India continues to be an emerging market in the global medical technologies space. However India has not reached its true potential, both in terms of the market opportunity as well as in building a hub for innovation and manufacturing. To build up a roadmap for India to reach its full potential in medical technology CII along with The Boston Consulting Group assembled a think tank to brainstorm and determine the key levers required to be able to unlock the true potential of India.

The CII- BCG report titled “Medical Technology: Vision 2025” released at the 8th Medical Technology Conference focuses on what it would take to make this vision a reality and structured the discussion in five areas—Manufacturing, Innovation, Regulation, Adverse environment and Skill building. The report highlights on getting things right, India holds a $50 billion opportunity by 2025 in the medical technology sector. 

The report also talks about steps needed to be taken by the government to streamline regulations and thereby enabling innovation and making doing business viable. Based on all the input from CII Medical Technology Division Members, the report puts forward a 10 point agenda of what needs to come together in the next year: 

·         Increase in government healthcare spending as promised to 2.5% of GDP

·         Single window authority for regulation

·         Staff regulatory and administrative agencies with medical technology focused resources

·         Ensure representation from all industries (devices, equipment & diagnostics) to these regulatory bodies

·         Focus on ‘Make in India’, provide incentives and soft loans

·         Rationalize the inverted Tax duty structure

·         Define segmented procurement approach which rewards innovation

·         Setting up first incubation center along with global & Indian institutes

·         Develop industry advocacy body

·         Set up Healthcare Sector Skill Council (HSSC) sub-group focused on Medical Technology 

“India holds immense opportunity with the ‘Make in India’ aspiration of the government. There lies a huge opportunity for growth of medical devices industry as 70 percent of medical devices are imported into the country. There are major challenges in making strong headway into this segment. The report elaborates on the challenges faced and how we can overcome the same in order to realize the vision”

Regulatory uncertainty in the medical device sector has deprived the industry of its rightful place. This is backed by lower government spending. The classification of medical devices as “Drugs” burdens the process of investment with fiscal policy obstacles and regulatory hurdles. It impacts FDI, Technology transfer, Local Investment, Manufacturing, Operations, Innovation and Exports says Himanshu Baid, Chairman, CII Medical Technology Division.

As a priority in the next twelve months, the following steps ought to be taken with immediate effect to boost the Medical Technology industry in India:

·  Unlocking demand through ramp-up in government spending on healthcare and providing a platform to participate
   in government purchasing across schemes and states

·   Setting up a single window authority for the regulation of medical technology manufacturing and enhancing the
   capability of designated manufacturing hubs

·    Specific tax incentives and soft loans setting up manufacturing plants in line with competing destinations such
    as Malaysia and Singapore, rationalization of the inverted duty structure for raw material and components, to
    make indigenous manufacturing more attractive.

Developments in the past year, hindrances for growth and how to overcome these obstacles  will be discussed at the medical technology conference held on 28th August 2015 and key industry stakeholders will come together to flesh out the next steps to realize the Vision 2025 for the industry.