Budget 2025: MedTech industry leaders seek tax incentives, encouraging policies

The leading stakeholders of the Indian medical devices industry share their expectations from the union budget 2025 slated for 1st February

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New Delhi: The medical device industry in India has listed its expectations for the Union Budget 2025, all set to be presented by the Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman on February 01, 2025.
“There should be a simplified regulatory framework to eliminate bureaucratic hurdles and clarify things, including a dedicated authority for medical devices distinct from pharmaceuticals,” demanded Chandra Ganjoo, Group Chief Executive Officer, Trivitron Healthcare.
Ganjoo calls for the inverted duty structure to be addressed to promote domestic manufacturing, whereby raw materials are charged higher customs duties than the finished products. “Increasing R&D incentives and tax benefits, are necessary to encourage innovation and competitiveness. Another key element is stricter enforcement of “Make in India” policies on public procurement, enhanced support for local manufacturers through reduced GST rates, and infrastructural development, such as medical device parks,”
“More importantly, the domestic standards must be aligned with global benchmarks, thereby increasing exports and simplifying import-export procedures for a smooth supply chain. Investment in skill development and training programs and increased healthcare spending over 2.5% of GDP will create demand and strengthen the sector. If the budget addresses these expectations, it can position India as a global hub for medical devices and drive the growth of the healthcare ecosystem,” Ganjoo added.
Sharing his expectations, Pavan Choudary, Chairman, Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), said, “The high customs duty regime significantly increases the cost of medical devices, which undermines the government’s efforts to make affordable healthcare accessible to the masses through initiatives like Ayushman Bharat (PMJAY). Hence, we urge the government to consider reducing customs duty rates for products where domestic alternatives are not yet readily available”.
In its Pre-budget memorandum to the Finance Ministry, Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) has highlighted that reduction of import duty on devices is an effort of the government that going in vain since the consumers/patients are paying 10-30 times of the import landed price of the devices. “There is no gain to the consumers from NIL duty as affordability is linked to MRP labelled on product as that is what has been charged to them. Thus, the device manufactures have asked for withdrawal of Concessional Duty Notification that reduce Duty to 0-7.5% and seek 5% – 15% duty on imports of medical devices.”
“As assured by you in your earlier Budget speech there is a need to remove NIL Duty Exemption notifications (and we recommend even Concessional Duty Exemption notification that reduces duty to 7.5% ) which have made it non-viable  to manufacture and motivated  many manufacturers to become importing traders or pseudo manufacturers” said Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, AiMeD in a letter to the Finance Minister.
“The diagnostics industry expects the Union Budget 2025 to prioritize increased investment in healthcare infrastructure, with a focus on strengthening diagnostic capabilities across urban and rural areas,” said Dr. Sandip Shah, Joint Managing Director, Neuberg Diagnostics.
“Key expectations include financial incentives to promote the development of advanced diagnostic technologies, reduced GST on diagnostic services and equipment, and enhanced funding for government-led screening programs for non-communicable diseases and infectious conditions. Additionally, the industry seeks support for public-private partnerships to improve access to affordable diagnostic solutions, incentives for R&D in molecular diagnostics and AI-driven tools, and initiatives to expand laboratory networks in underserved regions. Policies encouraging digital integration and seamless data sharing to build a robust diagnostics ecosystem are also critical to the industry’s growth and to advancing India’s healthcare system,” added Dr Shah.