Bengaluru: Indian medical devices industry sees that favourable shifts in global and domestic trade dynamics have provided a significant boost in enhancing growth prospects for local companies.
According to Jitesh Mathur, chief revenue officer, Medikabazaar, effective July 2025, the India-UK Free Trade Agreement offers zero tariffs and a smoother regulatory path for nearly 99% of Indian MedTech exports to the UK, propelling market expansion.
Trade dynamics have also given a fillip to this landscape. Conversely, the US, one of India’s largest export destinations for medical technology, has proposed steep tariffs of up to 50% on select categories of medical devices. While the tariff is still under negotiation, it has raised serious concerns about cost competitiveness in a market that absorbs a significant share of India’s MedTech exports, he added.
Industry leaders view this as a golden opportunity to diversify into other regions, strengthen domestic manufacturing capabilities and accelerate innovation to offset potential market pressures. The situation also emphasises the urgency of building robust value chains that remain less susceptible to sudden trade policy shifts, he pointed out.
In fact, it is MedTech’s ‘Make in India’ moment as collaborations are reshaping the future of affordable diagnostics. Ultimately, policy incentives, innovation clusters like the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ), digital enablers like the MedTech Mitra and academia-industry programs such as Syn-Pharma will establish an ecosystem for affordable diagnostics to flourish. Such efforts facilitate deeper penetration into smaller towns and hinterland zones, while reducing device costs and making quality healthcare widely available, accessible and affordable. Moving ahead, collaborations between MedTech’ players will redefine the industry dynamics, benefiting patients, practitioners and allied stakeholders, Mathur told Pharmabiz in an email.
The MedTech segment in India is poised for a revolutionary shift. Driven by visionary policies such as the National Medical Devices Policy 2023, the production-linked incentive (PIL) scheme and unified platforms like MedTech Mitra, the industry is moving from import-dependency towards self-sustained innovation and manufacturing. As the domestic market is slated to grow from approximately $12 billion to $50 billion by 2030, the stage is set for India to emerge as a global MedTech powerhouse.
However, several challenges must be overcome during this journey, including India’s overwhelming import dependence. Currently, almost 80-85% of medical devices are sourced from abroad, especially vital imaging components. Complicating this are inflated retail prices of imported devices with higher margins, which disincentives local options, straining affordability. Regulatory complexity also hinders speed to market, where startups face bureaucratic bottlenecks despite promises of speedy approvals, noted Mathur.
Fortunately, collaboration between government, academia, industry and innovative ecosystems is actively reshaping the MedTech landscape. For example, AMTZ, located within a strategic regional innovation cluster, highlights this shift by bringing manufacturing infrastructure, policy support, academic research and entrepreneurship under one roof. Likewise, the MedTech Mitra platform offers a one-stop digital ecosystem for startups and innovators, guiding them right from ideation to regulatory clearance and market launch, he said.
In an additional boost to innovation, the recently concluded Syn-Pharma initiative connects academia and industry via joint R&D programs and funding for diagnostic startups, fostering high-impact projects in early diagnostics and advanced therapies. Complementing these are global players augmenting India’s MedTech R&D and manufacturing capabilities. World-class multinationals are also investing in local innovation hubs, transforming India into a global destination for diagnostics technology, said Mathur.
