Medtech sector goes local to develop high-end devices

With 80 to 85 per cent of the country's needs for medical devices currently being met through imports, both the government and medtech manufacturers are looking to accelerate projects to indigenously develop high-end equipment.

- SANKET KOUL

Taking steps towards this, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, last month announced its plans to install the country's first indigenously developed 1.5 tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine by October this year. The project is to be trialled in partnership with the Society for Applied Microwave Electronic Engineering and Research (SAMEER), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Similarly, Bengaluru-based medical device maker Voxelgrids Innovations, which claims to be the first and the only indigenous manufacturer of MRI scanners in India, has already received a licence from the Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) for commercial manufacture and sales.

According to the Department of Pharmaceuticals' annual report for 2024-25, India imported medical devices worth $8.1 billion, while exports stood at $3.7 billion in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24).

The move not just aims to increase self-reliance, but also ensure affordability.

Arjun Arunachalam, founder and CEO, Voxelgrids, told Business Standard that the company's MRI machine can cost approximately 50 per cent less compared to the value and performance of MRI products offered by other vendors.