Chinese ‘Made in India’ Fakes brazening out with Impunity in Here too
New Delhi: Chinese slur on AI Expo, thanks to Galgotia fiasco, has hit a raw nerve in domestic MedTech on ‘Make in India ‘bandwagon. MedTech leaders here have latched onto the turn of events in which fakery was caught pants down in the much anticipated Expo to express their own ‘trauma’ in witnessing such shenanigans in domestic medtech domain as well. While praising prompt and bold step of sending the guilty to the doghouse, they have also used this opportunity to send SOS (Save Our Souls) asking the union government to cleanse Domestic medtech of such similar shams of ‘Made in India’ operators too.
Galgotia episode, which has shown lofty ‘Make in India’ slogan in a very poor light, is not one off occurrence. In Domestic Medtech space such faking phenomenon is rampant to the chagrin of genuine medtech leaders who took PM Modi’s call in right earnest and have come up with world class medical devices giving their MNC counterparts run for their money.
CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organization), the regulator too is not covering itself in glory by turning a blind eye to these pretenders despite many complaints. The fact is import of these surgical robots is not at all being contested. What rankles the genuine ‘Make in India’ champions is their false claims of being made in India.
Rajiv Nath, one of the greatest Make in India Champions in Domestic medtech and Forum, Coordinator, AiMeD ( Association of Indian Medical Device Industry) minces no words saying, ‘The bold cancellation of Golgotha University’s participation in the New Delhi AI expo—after they passed off a Chinese robot as their own CoE innovation—is an appreciable move by the MeitY Secretary. If such restrictions apply to universities in AI, they must extend to pseudo-manufacturing in critical sectors like medical devices. Manufacturing licenses should be denied for packaging or relabeling Chinese-origin products as ‘Made in India,’ especially devices that directly impact patient safety.
Rajiv Nath adds further, These must instead carry clear labels stating ‘Packed by [Indian company name and address]’ along with the imported product’s country of origin— if no assembly was required. Amending Legal Metrology Packaging Rules for consumer protection and MDR 2017 for ensuring Patient Safety concerns are addressed is essential to stop this repackaging scam, which not only undermines genuine Indian manufacturing like termites but pseudo made in India poses grave patient safety risks from unvetted imports. With negligible tariffs, manufacturers increasingly became importers and dodge the 51+ state and central compliances that burden local medtech firms. Make in India cannot have any shortcuts “
Srinivasa Pilli, Sr Vice President – Operations, QARA and Govt Affairs at SS Innovations, maker of only ‘Made in India’ Surgical robot SSiMantra at Gurgaon Headquarter is quite miffed at phenomenon of rebranding of Chinese surgical robots and being flaunted as Made in India. Naming two such surgical robots in his Linkedin post and in an interaction with Medicare news, Srinivas Pill seems in a rage. Mr Pill says, ‘This is not ‘Make in India’- This is ‘Fake it in India. AI Impact Summit incident was allegedly rebranded and showcased as Indian Innovation, the same pattern of ‘import- relabel –claim originality’ has been seen in the surgical robotics space too.
Srinivas Pill further adds, ‘ historically, India encourage legitimate trading and distribution of global medtech products in India- but importing, rebranding and presenting foreign technology as indigenous Indian innovation is unethical , misleading and unacceptable. It is extremely concerning to see Chinese surgical robots allegedly being imported and rebranded in India as indigenous innovations. If this is true, this is not innovation – This is misrepresentation; this is not competition; this is deception. At a time when India is pushing for Viksit Bharat and Atmanirbhar Bharat and positioning itself as global leader in healthcare innovation such short cuts are not just embarrassing, they are dangerous too. Government authorities and regulators must take strict action against unethical and misleading brand practices.
India imported last year over 12000 Cr Rs medical devices from China (2nd largest supplier) and over 7700 Cr Rs from Singapore (4th largest supplier) of which over 40% is estimated to be imports coming in for repackaging, relabelling under Indian Manufacturers Licensing.
Maximum issue is in examination gloves imported from Zero tariff FTA ASEAN countries like Thailand and Malaysia that are repackaged as Indian branded goods whereas duty on latex raw materials is over 60% and most surgical glove manufacturers are selling Malaysian origin examination gloves under their Indian brand as cheaper and more convenient.
