No measures on imports hit desi medical device sector

Pune: Members of the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED) have expressed disappointment over the Union Budget giving the cold shoulder to the local medical device industry and failing to provide measures to end dependency on Chinese imports. “It is painful to see the plight of domestic players shutting shop as they cannot compete with cheaper Chinese imports. The government did not announce any measures to end the import dependency and the ever-increasing import bill,” said Rajiv Nath, president of AIMED. Imports of medical devices from China went up nearly 50% last year, from Rs9,000 crore to Rs15,000 crore, due to low duty and convenience. “These are the same domestic manufacturers that the government heavily relied on to meet the rising demand for essential Covid items when imports were disrupted during the pandemic, pushing the Indian medical devices sector to become self-reliant,” he said. India imported medical devices worth Rs63,200 crore in 2021–22, up 41% from Rs44,708 crore in 2020–21, as per data from the Union ministry of commerce and industry.“Though our PM urges India to be Atmanirbhar, the import of medical devices grew at an alarming rate. We request the government to encourage domestic manufacturing,” Nath added.