Medical device import grows in last one year in India

New Delhi: During the last fiscal year, the import of medical devices in India has increased around 13 per cent with disposables accounting for nearly 17.6% of the growth in comparison to the previous year, according to data from Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD), the umbrella association of Indian manufacturers of medical devices.

In 2023–24, the fiscal year's import of medical devices was Rs. 68,885 crore, while the previous fiscal year's imports were Rs. 61,179 crore. It should be mentioned that compared to the Rs. 63,276 crore reported in the previous fiscal year, imports during 2022–2023 decreased by 3.31%. Based on data, imports increased by over 65% in five years, from Rs. 41,709 crore recorded in 2019–20.

Of the six medical device category groups, disposables saw the largest increase in imports during the fiscal year, rising 17.63% to Rs. 4,090 crore from Rs. 3,477 crore in 2022–2023. Compared to the previous year's imports of Rs. 38,540 crore, the country's imports of electronics equipment increased by 14.5% to Rs. 44,132 crore this year.

From Rs. 4,580 crore in the previous fiscal year to Rs. 5,087 crore in 2023–24, the import of implants increased by 11%. During the fiscal year, the sector's imports of consumables increased by 8.37 percent to Rs. 7,430 crore from Rs. 6,856 crore the year before. IVD reagent imports increased by 7% to Rs. 6,477 crore in 2023–24 from Rs. 6,053 crore in the previous year.

Surgical tool imports saw a little decrease, nevertheless, to Rs. 1,670 crore from Rs. 1,674 crore the year before.

The industry association stated that the nation's exports totaled Rs. 31,673 crore, with the electronics and equipment segment reporting the highest exports at Rs. 12,120 crore. This was followed by consumables at Rs. 9,978 crore, disposables at Rs. 5,128 crore, implants at Rs. 2,096 crore, IVD reagent at Rs. 1,694 crore, and surgical instruments at Rs. 657 crore.

In order to assist the expansion of domestic manufacturing, the Association has asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to boost custom duty, right the inverted duty structure, and curb trade margins in the next Union Budget 2024–2025.

Earlier this year, former Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had said that India has moved on to become a major exporter of bulk drugs and medical devices, Union Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya. He claimed that India was working on strategies and schemes to reduce the risk in its supply chain from the whims of the world and reliance on one nation for the procurement of APIs needed to make bulk medications.

Though India's pace of export of medical devices is still slow, the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) believes that India’s exports of medical devices to Russia can be tripled in the next five years through collaborative efforts by both countries.