MTaI suggests gradual rollout of public procurement guidelines

The Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) today said the Department of Pharmaceuticals should prepare a road map for phased implementation of guidelines on public procurement of medical devices.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) had issued draft guidelines for implementation of public procurement of medical devices in March this year.

As per DoP's draft guidelines, implants, hospital equipment and medical devices should have a minimum local content ranging from 25-50 per cent to qualify for public procurement.

Given that India's medical devices regulatory regime is fairly new and its implementation is nascent, any preferential provisions for public procurement applied to all segments of devices will only limit patient access and forbid several kinds of medical technology that is not locally being produced, MTaI said in a statement.

"In view of the above, we strongly urge the DoP to carve out a road map for a phased implementation of local content requirements in order to boost local manufacturing rather than imposing local content requirements where adequate ground work for promoting localisation has not taken place." it added.

At present, India has adequate manufacturing capabilities for products like syringes, cannulae, stop cocks, extension lines, blood bags, dressings, hospital furniture, and suction machines, but lacks the desired ecosystem for devices requiring complex research, design and engineering support, MTaI said.