New Delhi: The production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for medical devices has reported commissioning of 17 manufacturing units till the end of April, 2024, with an actual investment of around Rs. 958.72 crore made by the industry.
The PLI scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of medical devices, launched in the year 2020, has witnessed actual investment going up almost Rs. 121.5 crore from Rs. 837.23 crore investments till March, 2023, to Rs. 958.72 crore by the end of April, 2024, according to official data.
The scheme has recorded actual production to the tune of Rs. 5,889.29 crore till April 30, 2024, offering employment to a total of 5,466 persons.
Under the PLI scheme for medical devices with a financial outlay of Rs. 3,420 crore, for the period 2020-21 to 2027-28. Total 26 applicants out of the 64 applications received, have been approved by the DoP in four rounds. The total number of products approved for these 26 applicants under the scheme is 138, according to the Department.
Under the scheme, financial incentive is given to selected companies at the rate of 5% of incremental sales of medical devices manufactured in India and covered under four Target Segments of the scheme, that is, cancer care equipment, imaging devices, critical care devices, and body implants.
The objective of this scheme is to establish domestic manufacturing capability of high-end medical devices under these four target segments.
The ministry of chemicals and fertilisers, under which the DoP operates, has in March, 2024, announced inauguration of 13 Greenfield manufacturing plants for medical devices under the PLI scheme. The projects inaugurated include Panacea Medical Technologies’ linear accelerator (LINAC) and rotational cobalt machine in Karnataka, Philips Global Business Services’ MRI Coils in Maharashtra, Siemens Healthcare’s CT Scan and MRI production facility and Wipro GE Healthcare’s CT Scan Cath lab and ultrasonography facilities in Karnataka, Trivitron Healthcare’s X-Ray equipment, C-Arm, mammography and ultrasonography production facility in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, Allied Medical’s Anaesthesia related product range in Rajasthan, Microtek New Technologies’ oxygen concentrators in Himachal Pradesh, among others.
The Ministry during the inauguration claimed that when the scheme was introduced, India imported 90 per cent of medical devices and after the introduction of the scheme, the net imports of medical devices decreased for the first time in 2023.
The Ministry said that with a wide base of scientists, biomedical engineers, and a growing innovation ecosystem in the country, the India MedTech sector is poised to grow rapidly. Indian manufacturers are continuously innovating. For instance, under the scheme, the country has indigenously developed cancer care equipment, such as Linear Accelerator for radiotherapy and evolved coronary stents.
It added that the medical devices being manufactured under the PLI scheme include high-end medical devices such as CT scan, MRI Coil, LINAC, C-Arm, Ultrasonography, Dialysis Machine, Intensive care ventilators, Knee implants, Hip Implants, Heart valves, Stents, Dialyzer etc. Some of these medical devices are being domestically manufactured for the first time in the country. Thus, the PLI scheme has paved the way for an ecosystem for domestic manufacturing of these high-end medical devices, said the Ministry.
The scheme encourages manufacturers to invest in R&D activities to develop innovative products and technologies. The scheme has enabled technology transfer in high-end medical devices enhancing capabilities.
The medical devices exports from the sector has been growing steadily at a CAGR of around 14% since FY 2019-20, said the Ministry. The market for the medical device industry in India is estimated to be of the size of $11 billion and it is expected to cross the $30 billion mark by 2050.
