Chinese Medical Imports up 75%
India has expressed concern over the recent 75% increase in medical imports from China.
Despite India’s efforts to become self-reliant in the healthcare sector, imports of medical technology and medical equipment have increased by 75% from China alone.
- China has overtaken the US and Germany to become the largest exporter of medical equipment to India during the year 2020-21.
- However, most of the growth has been on account of imports of critical items like oxymeters, diagnostic equipment, digital thermometers etc. These were needed during the pandemic, as a quick increase in supply at the local level was not possible. India’s medical devices market was valued at US$ 11 billion in the year 2020. It is expected to reach US$ 65 billion in the year 2024.
- The major segments are consumables and disposables, clinical illustrations, dental products, orthopedics and prosthetics and AIDS patients.
- Major drivers of this growth include increasing population, increasing life expectancy, changing nature of disease burden, changing attitudes towards preventive health care, etc.
Initiatives taken to improve manufacturing of medical devices:
- Medical devices have been recognized as a sunrise area under the ‘Make in India’ campaign.
- Production Linked Incentive Scheme has been introduced for domestic manufacture of medical devices.
- The National Medical Devices Promotion Council will promote local manufacturing of high quality medical devices.
- 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been permitted under the automatic route for both brown-field and green-field setups.
Source – The Hindu
