The secretary said that the aim should be to reduce import dependence in the Meditech sector from 75% to 50% in five years.
“If we do this policy stack exercise well, this will lay the foundation of med tech policy for next 10-15 years. ‘We have to work towards improving export competitiveness in Meditech sector through value added manufacturing and improve import coverage ratio to 1.0,”he said.
The event was organised by the Department of Pharmaceuticals in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The Stackathon was aimed to address critical challenges, foster domestic manufacturing, and reduce import dependence, thereby positioning India as a global leader in medical technology. At present India ranks as the 4th largest market for medical devices in Asia and stands among the top 20 globally. Net imports for 2022-23 stands at USD 4101 Million with import coverage ratio of 0.45. Consumables and Disposables is the only sector where exports exceed imports. Emphasizing the imperative of a bottom-up approach in policy formulation, Chawla underscored the need for cohesion across diverse scientific disciplines within the MedTech ecosystem.
