New Delhi: Indian medical device makers must look beyond the domestic market and build products for the world if they want to compete with cheaper imports, Manoj Joshi, secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals said Thursday.
Addressing the 9th India Medical Device 2026 conference at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi— organised by the Department of Pharmaceuticals in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI)—Joshi said low import duties on medical devices mean Indian manufacturers cannot depend on protection from foreign competition. Instead, they need to manufacture at a larger scale and become globally competitive.
“Catering only to the Indian market is not a great strategy. You need to produce for a much larger market than India,” Joshi said, adding that companies manufacturing for global markets would be better placed to reduce costs, invest in research, build brands and secure approvals in multiple countries.
India’s medical devices market is estimated to be worth around $16 billion, compared with a global market of nearly $600 billion.
Joshi said healthcare providers don’t really care whether a product is imported or made in India—from a hospital’s perspective, it’s simply an industrial product. But for the country, manufacturing medical devices locally is important because it creates jobs, strengthens industry and reduces dependence on imports during disruptions such as the Covid-19 pandemic and other global crises.
More than assembling imported devices
According to Joshi, India has made progress in recent years by bringing the assembly of sophisticated medical equipment such as imaging systems and some robotic devices into the country.
The next challenge, he said, is to start making more of the parts that go into these products instead of importing them.
He said Indian companies currently add only about 20-25 percent of the value in many high-end medical devices. The government’s aim is to nearly double that to 40-45 percent by encouraging manufacturing of components and building stronger links with sectors such as electronics, plastics, engineering and software.
Joshi also highlighted the difficulties faced by India’s growing medical device startup ecosystem. While government schemes have helped many startups develop new technologies, selling those products remains a major challenge because hospitals and government procurement agencies usually prefer established brands.
“It is much easier to produce a prototype, slightly more difficult to produce a product, and far more difficult to sell that product,” he said.
He suggested that larger medical device companies could partner with startups or acquire promising technologies to help innovative products reach patients.
He added that no country makes every component of a sophisticated medical device on its own, as these products depend on global supply chains. India’s focus, therefore, should be on becoming a stronger manufacturing base for the world.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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