With a view to tap the potential in the growing medical devices sector, the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has sought an assistance of Rs.50 crore to set up a dedicated research and development (R&D) centre for the industry.

The DoP has sent a proposal to the Planning Commission to approve a budget of Rs.50 crore for setting up the centre at the NIPER, Ahmedabad. This Centre will provide high end educational facilities for teaching and research with a multi-disciplinary approach towards innovation in medical devices. There will be incubator facilities as well as reference test facilities for standards certification of medical devices. Facilities would also exist for preclinical testing of medical devices, according to the proposal.

The DoP has selected Ahmedabad for setting up the centre in view of the proposed green-field medical devices park in Gujarat. Gujarat Government has already earmarked the place for the specialised park that would provide integrated set of facilities.

The medical device Industry in India is very nascent and is largely import dependent. More than 65 per cent of India’s requirement of medical devices and equipments are met through imports with domestic production being largely restricted to low technology disposable equipments, the department said in the note.

With the growing income in new world economies of India, Brazil, South Africa, China, Singapore etc., a vast new market has opened up for medical devices industry. However, Indian Medical Device Industry, at present is not in a position to reap the benefit of this global market position due to its nascent stage, it said.

Low per capita expenditure on health care and low health insurance with an underdeveloped healthcare awareness and infrastructure, lack of adequate and trained manpower, lack of incubation and suitable ecosystem encouraging innovation and new products, absence of linkages between academia and industry, absence of proper governmental promotional policy to encourage exports from the sector, tariff structure working against local manufacturing in many cases have been cited by the department as the weaknesses of the Indian medical devices sector.