New Delhi : India’s exports of medical devices has registered a 16.15 per cent growth during the fiscal year 2022-23 at Rs. 27,818 crore as compared to the Rs. 23,950 crore exports reported in the previous fiscal year. The exports during the year was led by the category of electronics and equipment, followed by consumables, and disposables according to data from the industry.
According to data from the AiMeD, the umbrella Association of Indian Medical Industry covering all types of medical devices including consumables, disposables, equipment’s, instruments, electronics, diagnostics and implants, the exports for the year 2021-22 was a 20 per cent higher than the exports of medical devices in 2020-21 at Rs. 19,803 crore. The year 2019-20 saw exports of Rs. 18,510 crore and 2018-19 witnessed exports worth Rs. 17,118 crore, it added.
Among the top five countries to where India exported medical devices during the fiscal year 2022-23, exports to US was the highest at Rs. 5,571 crore including Rs. 2,735 crore worth of electronics and equipments, Rs. 1,799 crore of consumables, Rs. 393 crore of disposables, Rs. 266 crore of implants, Rs. 218 crore of IVD reagents and Rs 161 crore of surgical instruments.
Germany was the second major export destination, picking up Rs. 1,468 crore of medical devices from the country, with the electronics equipment category witnessing Rs. 758 crore exports followed by consumables at Rs. 465 crore of exports. China was the third largest export destination for India in terms of value of exports at Rs. 1,213 crore during 2022-23, followed by Netherland at Rs. 887 crore and Brazil at Rs. 691 crore, said data from AiMeD.
Exports of electronics and equipment stood at Rs. 10,669 crore out of the total Rs. 27,818 crore, followed by consumables at Rs. 9,449 crore, disposables at Rs. 4,257 crore, IVD reagents at Rs. 1,453 crore, implants at Rs. 1,410 crore and surgical instruments at Rs. 579 crore.
India exported Rs. 175 crore worth of personal weighing scales, higher than the imported Rs. 135 crore worth of the device, it added.
The exports of medical devices is expected to have a better growth in the near future, with the Centre taking various measures including support to infrastructure development, and creation of a National Medical Devices Policy in recent times. Besides, it has also set up an Export Promotion Council for Medical Devices.
In June, this year, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry brought in amendments to the list of export promotion councils, commodity boards and export development authorities, in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), 2023 to add the Export Promotion Council for Medical Devices (EPC-MD) to the list. With this, the newly launched Council can issue the Registration-Cum-Membership (RCMC) for the items listed as falling under its jurisdiction.
The Ministry has issued a public notice announcing the amendments in Appendix 2T, which is the list of export promotion councils and other export authorities, of appendices and Aayog Niryat Forms of the FTP, 2023. This adds the EPC-MD as a new entry at series number 38 in the appendix. The Export Promotion Council is situated at Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
“Export Promotion Council for Medical Devices has been included in the Appendix 2T of FTP 2023 for issuing RCMC for specific items, with immediate effect,” said the public notice issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade on June 23, 2023.
Commenting on the launch of the Council, Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator of Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) during the time said that the Exports Promotion Council for Medical Devices will help bring in coordinated inter-ministerial policy measures for unleashing the huge export potential and investment potential of over Rs. 80,000 crore for manufacturing medical devices for the global market in India’s quest to be one of top 5 preferred supplier base of medical devices worldwide.
