India’s reputation as the global pharmacy stems from its production of generic medicines and affordable vaccines. According to the Times of India report, India has accomplished another significant milestone in the medical industry. India has for the first time reversed a previous trend. It is now a net exporter of medical consumables and disposables. Until now, foreign goods dominated India’s market for medical consumables.
India has exported medical consumables and disposables worth USD 1.6 billion in FY 2022-23. The imports on the other hand during the same period amounted to around USD 1.1 billion. Mr. Arunish Chawla, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, said that with this India has for the first time became a net exporter. Earlier foreign made goods used to dominate the market of even tiny things like needles and catheters etc.
Compared to the previous fiscal year, exports have surged 16 percent whereas the imports have declined by 33 percent. Post COVID-19 outbreak, the government has reduced its dependency on importers especially in medical devices and pharmaceuticals. This was done because China began to monopolise the supply of medical goods, including testing kits, personal protective equipments and basic chemicals.
The Times of India report quoted Mr. Himanshu Baid, head of CII’s national medical technology forum, saying “During Covid, demand for consumables and disposables increased tremendously which pushed the industry towards augmenting its manufacturing.”
Towards Self Reliance..
Overall, according to Mr. Arunish Chawla the government aims to replicate this success in other areas such as those of surgical and medical equipments etc. At present India imports 70 percent of medical devices. In order to reduce the import bill, the government has subdivided the medical device sector. It has categorised the sector into Cancer therapy, imaging, critical care, assistive medical devices, body implants, surgical tools, hospital equipment, consumables and disposables etc.
The Secretary of the Department of Pharmaceuticals said that the government is trying to identify and evaluate key medical devices in each category. It intends to then analyse the import-export pattern, duty structure and its overall value chain.
Furthermore, the PLI scheme has in this direction greatly helped reduce the imports. The scheme, with tenure from 2020–2021 to 2029–2030, envisions the manufacturing of 41 bulk drugs with an outlay of ₹6,940 crore. Under this scheme, the government has opened approximately 13 Greenfield Manufacturing Plants for Medical Devices and 27 Greenfield Bulk Drug Park projects.
The Union Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, while inaugurating these 39 greenfield projects said, “Today India is self-sustainable in critical API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) making, and our medical exports are expected to reach ₹75,000 crore in the coming days.”
He further said, “today India has not only reduced its dependence on medicines, API and medical devices, the country is also emerging as a major exporter of these products, thanks to the success of the PLI scheme.”
All these endeavors will help increase India’s export competitiveness thereby reducing import dependence.