New Delhi, Aug. 7 : The ninth edition of India Medical Device 2026 began at Vigyan Bhawan here on Friday, bringing together policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, innovators and other stakeholders to discuss the growth of India’s medical devices sector.
The two-day conference, organised by the Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers in association with FICCI, is being held on the theme “Towards Viksit Bharat: Advancing India as a Global Hub for Quality Medical Devices.
”Addressing the inaugural session, Department of Pharmaceuticals Secretary Manoj Joshi said India’s medical devices sector needed to be viewed from both healthcare and industrial perspectives.
He said domestic manufacturing was important not only for improving supply chains but also for generating employment, strengthening industrial capabilities and ensuring resilience during global disruptions.
Joshi said India had made progress in domestic production, particularly in consumables, disposables and the assembly of high-end equipment such as diagnostic and imaging systems.
However, he stressed the need to increase domestic value addition, develop component manufacturing, encourage innovation in advanced medical technologies and continuously improve quality standards.
India must move beyond import substitution and build an export-oriented medical devices industry, Joshi said, noting that the country’s medical devices market is valued at around USD 16 billion, while the global market exceeds USD 600 billion.
He said strengthening component manufacturing, integrating India into global value chains and promoting partnerships between startups and established companies would be crucial to realising the sector’s potential.
Drugs Controller General of India Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi said the sector was undergoing a transformation from an import-driven market towards a domestic manufacturing-led ecosystem.
He emphasised the need to build indigenous capabilities in high-end Class C and Class D medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics, while ensuring faster, transparent and predictable regulatory processes.
FICCI Medical Devices Committee Chair Tushar Sharma said companies were increasingly investing in India through research and development centres, global capability centres, engineering and software hubs, clinical research, manufacturing and service networks.
Such investments, he said, were contributing to skilled employment, strengthening local capabilities and positioning India as an important hub for global MedTech operations.
FICCI Director General Jyoti Vij highlighted the importance of innovation, research and development, resilient supply chains, advanced manufacturing, globally harmonised quality standards and digital technologies in expanding India’s presence in international markets.
Philips Indian Subcontinent Managing Director and FICCI Medical Devices Committee Co-Chair Bharath Sesha said the discussions reflected India’s potential to emerge as a global leader in medical devices.
A key highlight of the opening day was the launch of a White Paper on strengthening service and maintenance of medical equipment in India, aimed at addressing challenges related to the availability, reliability and lifecycle management of medical equipment.
