AiMeD applauds govt’s strategic push to strengthen medical devices sector

New Delhi: The Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMED) has lauded the Government of India’s decision to make  the Export Promotion Council for Medical Devices (EPCMD) functional, with members being onboarded, a long-standing demand of the industry that has now become a reality.

AiMED expressed its gratitude to Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal, and the Department of Commerce, Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), YEIDA, and EEPC India.

Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator of AiMED, said:”This is a historic and proud moment for the Indian medical devices industry. The creation of EPCMD marks the fulfilment of an important request we have pursued for over a decade. We thank the Hon’ble Minister Shri Piyush Goyal and all supporting bodies for making this possible. The formation of this dedicated council will act as a catalyst in transforming India into a global hub for medical device innovation, manufacturing, and exports and is expected to be the next biggest success story after IT & Pharma. AiMeD looks forward to working closely with EPCMD to ensure this opportunity brings real growth, employment, and improved global health outcomes as well as work to diligently increase our exports so that they overtake our imports .”

Commenting on the role and benefits of EPCMD, Mr. Praveen Mittal , Executive Director, EPCMD, stated:”The medical devices sector has been identified as a sunrise sector and holds vast potential for innovation and economic growth. With the establishment of EPCMD, India now has a focused institutional mechanism to drive exports and boost domestic manufacturing. This initiative will play a vital role in helping India reach a USD 30 billion market size by 2030. Our mission is to take India-made, high-quality medical devices to global markets, enhance India’s competitiveness, and contribute to improved global health standards.

“The government’s recognition of the need to establish such a body separate from Pharmaceuticals was itself a significant victory for the industry as our strategic needs are different than the well established Pharma Industry. As a fledgling organisation, that got manned recently, EPC-MD has already delivered a couple of boundaries, strengthening the make-in-India initiative by assisting in seeking easier market access, guiding Dept of Commerce in ongoing negotiating of trade agreements and communication of policy support needs of exporters “ stated Jatin Mahajan, Mg. Director , Mitra Industries & Secretary of Association of Diagnostic Manufacturers of India.

AiMeD statement further mentioned that the Medical Devices exports are currently at over 31672 Cr Rs ( 3.7 Billion $) with a healthy fast paced growth of 14% over the previous year. The top 5 Countries India currently exports medical devices are to USA, Germany, China, Netherlands and Brazil.

The creation of EPCMD is a pivotal step toward recognising medical devices as a core pillar of India’s health and manufacturing ecosystem. It is expected to open up significant economic and employment opportunities, and accelerate the vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ in the medtech space, the statement concluded.