The government has launched MedTech Mitra ─ a new platform for budding entrepreneurs and innovators in the medical device sector. The objective is to boost innovation and ease of doing research and development so that emerging start-ups can play a proactive role in making India ‘Atmanirbhar’ in this field. At present, the Indian MedTech industry is highly import dependent and the new platform is a move toward changing this scenario, according an official release.

Sounds good. The Indian medical device industry ─ comprising both large multinationals as well as small and medium enterprises ─ is estimated at $11 billion and the domestic market is the fastest growing one amongst the emerging markets, but we still import nearly 80 percent of these products and considering this, India definitely needs a comprehensive policy to address the huge gap. From this point of view MedTech Mitra is no doubt a welcome step.

In order to boost domestic manufacturing, the Centre, recently launched the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the MedTech industry. Similarly, the National Medical Policy (NMD) 2023 has been launched with the aim of making India a leader in manufacturing and innovation of medical devices, securing a 10-12 percent global share over next 25 years. These comprehensive measures, along with steps like MedTech Mitra, will definitely boost overall growth and development of the Indian health sector.

Meanwhile, a latest report reveals some concerning facts. It has found that more than 18,000 employees were fired by Indian startups in 2022 while in 2023 over 17,000 startup employees have already lost jobs and the list is only growing. Similarly, another report shows 72 percent decline in VC funding for startups. Amid these difficulties, recent RBI crackdown on evergreening loans to AIFs may make matters worse for the sector.