Soft loans for mfg plants can boost med devices sector: Report

Incentives such as soft loans for setting up manufacturing plants and rationalisation of inverted duty structure can give a boost to the medical devices sector, a report said today.
India continues to be an emerging market in the global medical technologies space, however, it has not reached its true potential, both in terms of the market opportunity and building a hub for innovation and manufacturing, said the CII- BCG report titled 'Medical Technology: Vision 2025'.
It said India holds a USD 50 billion opportunity in the medical technology sector by 2025.
Listing a 10-point agenda for the government, the study said there is a need to increase government healthcare spending besides providing single window authority for regulation.

On a priority basis, the government should take steps in the next twelve months to boost the medical technology industry, increase spending on healthcare and provide a platform to participate in government purchasing across schemes and states, it suggested.
Besides, it sought "specific tax incentives and soft loans for setting up manufacturing plants in line with competing destinations such as Malaysia, rationalisation of the inverted duty structure for raw material and components, to make indigenous manufacturing more attractive".

It also pitched for setting up a single window authority for the regulation of medical technology manufacturing and enhancing the capability of designated manufacturing hubs.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, quoting Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce Sudhanshu Pandey, CII underscored the need for enhancing FDI in the medical device industry.
Pandey said the sector accounted for less than 0.5 per cent of the total inflow of FDI, which was inadequate considering the fact that FDI was allowed both in brownfield and greenfield segments.
More inflow of FDI could also make India a hub for medical device production not only for catering to domestic use but also exports, he said.
He added that states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are focusing on setting up hubs for manufacturing medical equipment.

Pandey also called for transfer of technology to give a leg-up to the industry by taking up contract designing and research leading to manufacturing.
Better brand building of Indian medical devices would help in commanding higher prices in the international market, he said, asking the industry to evolve a pragmatic pricing policy for equipment.
"Product pricing should be transparent, predictable and economical to make the medical treatment affordable to the common man," he added.