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As India accelerates its journey toward becoming a global hub for healthcare innovation, the medical technology (MedTech) sector offers a transformative opportunity. Spanning diagnostics, devices and equipment, software and digital health solutions, MedTech is essential to improving health care outcomes and driving economic growth.
With a projected market potential of $ 50 billion in the next decade, MedTech can be a cornerstone of Viksit Bharat. Yet, current per capita utilisation in India is approximately $ 10, far below the global average of $ 60, highlighting untapped potential.
This is not just a gap, it’s a call to action. Strengthening India’s policy and regulatory framework for MedTech can unlock innovation, boost manufacturing, and position the country as a global leader in medical technology.
Now is the time to prioritise MedTech as a national growth engine for health, innovation, and global leadership.
India’s MedTech ecosystem holds immense potential but remains constrained by limited insurance coverage, fragmented procurement, and weak enforcement of workplace safety standards. These gaps hinder access to critical, often life-saving, technologies and suppress long-term demand.
Unlocking this potential requires forward-looking reforms. Expanding public insurance schemes and incentivising private insurers to cover MedTech-intensive services such as home care, emergency response, and ambulatory care that can build a stable demand base while improving health care affordability and access.
Additionally, India can draw lessons from global models. Japan’s insurance-backed acquisition systems have made cutting-edge technologies more accessible and affordable. The European Union, meanwhile, mandates the presence of critical devices such as defibrillators in healthcare facilities and high-risk workplaces saving lives while driving predictable demand.
India can adopt a similarly proactive approach, embedding MedTech into national health priorities, standardising procurement, and enforcing safety protocols.
India’s strength in digital technologies, particularly in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and cloud computing should naturally position it as a global leader in MedTech innovation. But the potential remains underleveraged.
AI-enabled diagnostic tools, remote monitoring solutions, and personalised treatment platforms are not just the future of healthcare; they are the present in many advanced economies. Global demand for these innovations is soaring, and India is well-placed to lead, if it can provide the right policy signals.
Targeted incentives such as tax breaks and research and development grants, innovation hubs, and expedited approvals can nurture MedTech startups. Facilitating access to anonymised health data, and developing ethical AI frameworks, will be crucial in retaining domestic talent and building globally relevant solutions.
High GST rates on essential medical equipment make advanced healthcare unaffordable for vast segments of the Indian population. This is compounded by limited domestic manufacturing capacity and regulatory ambiguity around refurbished equipment.
To improve affordability and access, policymakers could look at rationalising import tariffs, reduce GST on MedTech products to 5%, and create clear frameworks for the use of refurbished devices. These measures can greatly enhance reach in underserved sectors such as senior care and emergency medicine, while stimulating local innovation.
Regulatory reforms present a powerful opportunity to propel India’s MedTech sector forward. By creating a more streamlined and innovation-friendly regulatory ecosystem, India can attract greater global investment, accelerate product development, and enhance patient access to advanced medical technologies.
Aligning standards with global benchmarks and enabling risk-based self-certification for trusted manufacturers can significantly reduce time-to-market while maintaining safety and quality.
The New Drugs and Medical Devices Act, 2023, has been a key demand of the MedTech industry, aiming to establish a dedicated, modern regulatory framework separate from pharmaceuticals. By clearly distinguishing medical devices from drugs, the Act paves the way for risk-based classification, faster approvals, and innovation-friendly compliance norms. This long-awaited reform is expected to boost investor confidence, encourage R&D, and align India’s regulatory ecosystem with global standards, helping the MedTech sector scale up manufacturing, improve quality, and enhance access to advanced healthcare technologies both domestically and globally.
India has an opportunity to build a globally trusted brand in MedTech, one rooted in quality, ethics, and innovation.
Indian regulators should align with the MDSAP programme to streamline compliance with global quality standards. This alignment would fast-track the entry of Indian medical devices into key international markets, boosting exports and global competitiveness.
Complementary initiatives such as a voluntary quality rating system for MedTech products, a centralised policy navigation portal, and a global communications campaign can significantly enhance India’s positioning as a credible destination for MedTech development, manufacturing, and exports. To maximize impact, these efforts should align with broader national priorities like digital health, telemedicine, and AI-driven care. Moving beyond affordability, India must now be recognized as a trusted MedTech partner – renowned for quality, reliability, and innovation to secure its place in the global health care value chain.
India’s MedTech sector is not merely a business opportunity; it is a national enabler. It can transform the healthcare experience for millions, reduce the burden on over-stretched health systems, and create new economic frontiers. But this potential will remain unrealised unless it is matched by bold, decisive policy action.
With the right reforms, India can not only meet the health care needs of its own population but also become the trusted supplier of medical technology to the world delivering on the promise of Heal in India and Make in India in one unified, visionary stride.
This article is authored by Himanshu Baid, managing director, Poly Medicure Ltd.
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