The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has submitted several key recommendations to the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) with regards to the infrastructure support required to boost manufacturing in the medical technology sector in line with the Government’s “Make in India” mission.
Regarding implementation of the Preferential Market Access (PMA) Policy in medical equipment and device, the industry members recommended promoting the components and ancillary industry without which “Making in India” is not possible in this technology-driven sector.
The Chairman of CII Medical Technology Department, Mr Himanshu Baid, said “Without the availability of indigenous components, the PMA policy will not yield any results, as already seen in the electronics and IT hardware sector since the last four years. Before the implementation of PMA policy in medical devices and equipment sector, there is a need to properly analyze the components manufacturing capabilities in India.”
CII has emphasized the importance of recognizing the fact that the manufacturing business case in India is quite challenging. While the labour costs are lower in the country, the capital investment and productivity of the labour are critical limiting factors to the manufacturing business case. Combined with approval delays, this makes the manufacturing environment quite challenging for entrepreneurs.
“Access to low-cost capital through soft loans, subsidized land, and assured power & water supply combined with tax incentives and single-window clearance, would certainly build a stronger business case in India,” said Mr Pavan Choudary, Co-Chairman, CII Medical Technology Department.