Indian medical device industry can grow to $7 bn by 2016:USIBC

The Indian medical device industry has a potential to grow from current USD 4.4 billion to USD 7 billion by 2016, a premier US-India business body has said as it called for a dialogue with the government to address issues of ease of doing business.
The US-India Business Council (USIBC) also stressed yesterday that there is a need for a separate regulatory framework for medical devices.
The business body that led a three-day Medical Device Trade Mission to New Delhi and Gandhinagar from July 21 said there are opportunities for collaboration to attract investment and talent to the sector.
The Indian medical device industry is currently valued at USD 4.4 billion, the fourth largest in Asia and the sector has the potential to grow to USD seven billion by 2016 with a growth rate of 10-15 per cent annually, it said.

Citing the NDA government's focus on 'Make in India', the USIBC delegation said India had strong potential in developing innovative industries in the medical devices sector.
"Through this series of fruitful discussions, we have identified opportunities to continue collaborating with the Government of India in support of its priorities to attract investment and talent to the medical device sector," said Maulik Nanavaty, Senior Vice President and President for Neuromodulation at Boston Scientific.

"India has made considerable strides in developing innovative industries across a number of sectors and maintains strong potential to do the same in medical devices," Nanavaty, who chaired the delegation, said.

He cited India's engineering talent, experience in IT innovation and the Modi government's 'Make in India' focus to underscore the importance for the government and industry to work toward creating the proper ecosystem for medical device innovation.
The delegation expressed its commitment to addressing India's most pressing public health challenges and called for further dialogue with the government on issues related to ease of doing business, disease management and the implementation of training programs for medical device regulators.
The delegation encouraged the government to pass legislation that would provide specific regulations for medical devices, which are currently treated as pharmaceuticals under India's Drug & Cosmetics Act.

"This will expedite the ongoing creation of research and development and product innovation that medical device companies offer India, leading to faster growth of medical device manufacturing in the country. The time is opportune to fulfil the government's mandate of Make in India and Innovate in India," Nanavaty added.
USIBC Director and Legal Policy Council Amy Hariani said the medical device industry, which forms a critical segment of the healthcare industry, is going through rapid transformation in India and is projected to grow at a higher rate as health insurance becomes more widely available and the country's consumers continue to demand better healthcare services.