Government to set up National Medical Devices Promotion Council

The government will set up a National Medical Devices Promotion Council (NMDPC) under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to promote the medical devices sector. This announcement has been made by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu on December 14, 2018.

Proposed Structure

National Medical Devices Promotion Council will have representations form concerned departments of the Government of India and also healthcare industry and quality control institutions of the country. It will be headed by  Secretary of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. It will get technical support from Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone, Visakhapatnam.

Objectives and Activities

The key objectives and activities of the National Medical Devices Promotion Council will be as follows:

• To work as a facilitating and developmental body for Indian Medical Devices Industry.
• To conduct seminars, workshop and other promotional and networking activities to promote the sector.
• To identify redundant processes and provide technical assistance to simplify the approval processes involved in medical devices industry.
• To work towards making a export driven market in the field.
• To support dissemination and documentation of international norms and standards for medical devices’ and promote global best practices.
• To drive a robust and dynamic Preferential Market Access (PMA) policy, by identifying the strengths of the Indian manufacturers and discouraging unfair trade practices in imports; while ensuring pro-active monitoring of public procurement notices across India to ensure compliance with PMA guidelines of DIPP and DoP.
• Help validation of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and other such entities within MDI sector.
• To recommend government various measures to promote the MDI sector.

Medical Devices Industry (MDI) in India

The current value of India MDI industry is more than USD 5 Billion and India is one of the top 20 global medical devices markets. However, the medical devices market in India is currently dominated by imports. Currently, Indian companies are engaged in production of only low end products. There are huge possibilities in this market and the government has provided for a regulatory framework for the industry in 2017.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2018