BioSpectrum India Magazine November issue BioSpectrum India Magazine | Page 27

www.biospectrumindia.com | November 2017 | BioSpectrum COVERStory INDIAN MEDICAL DEVICES MARKET The Indian medical devices market is currently valued at around $10 billion and has been growing at an average rate of 15 per cent for the past couple of years. As per the market estimates, the industry is expected to reach close to $25 billion by 2025. Indian medical device industry comprises of over 800 Indian manufacturers of which close to 65 per cent of companies have turnover of over Rs 10 crore ($1.5 million) and 2 per cent companies with a turnover of more than Rs 500 crore ($73 million). Source: www.ibef.org FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS (FDI) INFLOWS As per official data, the medical and surgical equipment sector received a total of Rs 8,344 crore (approx. $ 1452 million) Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) inflows between 2000 and 20162. In 2013 alone, the FDI inflow was almost Rs 920 crore (approx. $ 138 million). In 2015, this number jumped to a new high of Rs 1,019 crore (approx. $ 153 million). Source: http://www.nishithdesai.com Sharing his views Viral Gandhi, Chairman, Voxtur Bio said, “The “Make in India” campaign could spawn the creation of a home-grown medical device industry with reduced or no dependence on imports. If India is to assert its rightful position as a powerful player in the global medical devices industry, impetus needs to be placed on developing localized technologies to design high-tech devices. With the domestic medical devices industry at an inflexion point, the “Make in India” initiative could change the operational paradigms of the sector and fast-pace its indigenization. He further said that to enable medical technology companies to create manufacturing hubs in the country, the government should provide players in the domain with a tax holiday. This will not only help the players to build and consolidate critical core competencies but also benefit from economies of scale. Re-organizing the operational algorithms of the domestic device sector remains a key challenge area which needs to be overcome by the government by allocating a fair share of the “Startup India” funds to the industry. Potential Opportunities As per the recent survey by Finpro, the Indian healthcare pyramid consists of approximately 1.6 lakhs of primary healthcare centres, 10,000 secondary healthcare hospitals and about 2000 tertiary hospitals. In spite of more than 75% of the qualifying Doctors practice in the urban areas, there are ample opportunities in the rural areas as well. The growth drivers of the Indian IVD market is by the increase in healthcare awareness and demand for quality healthcare and increase in corporate hospitals, and laboratory services, and expansion of diagnostic services to the rural areas. With more and more people getting educated and the availability of several insurance coverage, the healthcare sector is bound to expand with leaps and bound. Opportunities are plenty but challenges are more. Healthcare industry particularly diagnostics is growing fast at the rate of 15-20% on CAGR. Newer technologies are being introduced or being developed. This is particularly more in the areas of Point of Care (POC). “Pretty soon we may be able to perform many of the diagnostic tests sitting at home by using our smart phones with some attachments. Challenges are with the competition and financial supports for the product developments. Unlike software or e-commerce, many 27