Dubai: As part of the ongoing Health & Wellness Week, the India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai hosted a panel discussion on ‘R&D and Innovation in Medical Device Sector’ recently.

The event observed participation from eminent government and industry experts, who shared their views pertaining to the exceptional contributions made by India and discussed the investment opportunities in R&D and innovation in the sector.

Addressing the session virtually, Ms S Aparna, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt. of India, said, “The Medical Devices sector is a sunrise sector on a growth trajectory and has a huge potential to cater to the growing needs across the world.”

“The sector has the capacity to bring together India’s strengths in both manufacturing and the IT industries to develop innovative products, offer medical devices and equipment with the latest technology and high-quality solutions that are affordable not only in India but globally,” added Ms S Aparna.

The Government of India has provided unprecedented support to the Medtech sector in the form of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme and the scheme for supporting the setting up of medical devices parts with an overall outlay of $500 mn. Another initiative that has propelled the growth in the sector is the draft policy to catalyze R&D and innovation in the Pharma space, which aims to increase the acceptability of Indian medical devices in the global market.

Mr N Yuvraj, Joint Secretary (Policy, Medical Device, Pharma Bureau), Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt. of India virtually said, “The pharma industry of India is poised to grow beyond expectations and innovation is the fastest process to take it to greater heights. The Indian Pharma & Medical Device Sector must converge in order to create a larger infrastructure to invite investments. The industry must look at earmarking and creating a conducive environment for more innovations.”

Mr K. Kalimuthu, Consul (Economic, Trade & Commerce), Consulate General of India, Dubai said, “Healthcare has become one of the largest sectors of the Indian economy in terms of both revenue and employment. Considering India’s expertise in healthcare services, growing industrial engineering and IT capabilities, and fast-changing conducive and enabling policy environment, India is poised to play a very prominent role in the medical device sector.”

Addressing virtually, Mr Vishwaprasad Alva, Chair- FICCI Medical Device Committee and Founder & Managing Director, Skanray Technologies added, “Product Engineering, verification and validation and reliability is very critical for the MedTech space and India has an advantage of being 80% cheaper than the rest of the world. India is bound to become the next destination for MedTech due to the right ecosystem and policies.”

Mr Sashi Kumar, Managing Director, Phoenix Medical Systems Pvt. Ltd. moderated the session.

Many other industry experts like Mr Girish Gopalakrishnan, Regional Director, South India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, GE Healthcare South Asia; Dr Shyam Vasudeva Rao, Co-chair-FICCI Medical Device Committee & Managing Director Renalyx Health Systems and Forus Health, Mr Madan R Krishnan, VP- MD India Subcontinent (South Asia), India Medtronic Pvt. Ltd (virtual) and Mr Himanshu Baid, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Polymedicure Ltd. (virtual) also spoke during the discussion.

Delegates from 23 countries joined the session both through physical and virtual medium.