India's Strategic Shift Towards High-Quality, Low-Cost MedTech

India's healthcare infrastructure continues to face significant strain from the rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), contributing around 66 per cent of the mortalities in the country, underscoring the need for scalable continuous monitoring, early diagnosis, and therapeutic devices. Yet, advanced imaging systems, analysers, surgical tools, or robotic devices remain very expensive due to import reliance, high logistics costs, and maintenance/ service contracts. Segments showing strongest traction today are diagnostics (point-of-care devices, rapid tests, compact imaging devices), remote monitoring/wearable devices, and therapeutic devices such as surgical robotic systems, renal care systems, and wound care devices.

- Neeraj Nitin Jadhav

The MedTech segment is now beginning to bloom for four reasons: policy stimulus, increased demand, favorable startup ecosystem, and increasing investments. According to the survey of medical devices clusters, 2023, the MedTech landscape has around 800 domestic medical device manufacturers, including 736 active units in 21 medical devices clusters spread over 9 states. Policy interventions like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, Assistance to Medical Device Clusters for Common Facilities, and Medical Devices Park scheme are catalysing the domestic manufacturing of affordable (lowcost) medical devices in India. The nation's healthcare sector not only meets domestic needs but has also emerged as a global hub for medical tourism, welcoming about 2.36 million patients from 210 countries between 2019 and 2024. The startup ecosystem is fueled by Invest India MedTech initiative and the India MedTech Expo platform. There were 17 licensing deals during the India MedTech Expo 2025 - publicresearch innovations in areas such as diagnostics transferred to the private sector for scale-up. With respect to investments, between April 2000 and December 2024, the MedTech sector accumulated $3.9 billion in FDI equity, reflecting strong investor confidence in India's evolving healthcare innovation landscape.

As the fourth largest medical devices market in Asia and among the top 20 globally, India is driving a new era of low-cost medical device innovations in diagnostics and therapy that are making healthcare more accessible and equitable across all layers of the society.

India's Leap Towards Accessible Healthcare

With strong policy support-such as the National Medical Devices Policy, 2023-and a favourable ecosystem for developing lowcost, high-impact diagnostic and therapeutic solutions, India is witnessing a surge in homegrown diagnostic and therapeutic innovations.