Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, on Wednesday said, “Healthcare sector in India is expected to grow to reach a size of $50 billion by 2025.”
Addressing the 14th CII Global MedTech Summit titled “Seizing the Global Opportunity”, Dr Jitendra Singh said, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji, healthcare has become more focused on innovation and technology over the past two years and 80% of healthcare systems are planning to increase their investment in digital healthcare tools in next five years.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, Telemedicine is also expected to reach $5.5 billion by year 2025. eSanjeevani, a Ministry of Health & Family Welfare conceived technical intervention, has enabled virtual doctor consultations and connected thousands of people living in remote or rural parts of the country with doctors in major or urban cities while sitting in the comfort of their own homes, the Minister added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the prime objective of the government is to reduce import dependence from 80% to below 30% in next 10 years and ensure self-reliance quotient of 80% in Med-Tech through “Make in India” or “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” with SMART milestones. He commented, towards this, the Central Government has undertaken structural and sustained reforms to provide strength to the healthcare sector and has also announced conducive policies for encouraging FDI.
This has led to a change in trend, with the country becoming a hotbed of MedTech innovation and instead of adopting western and foreign products, Indian innovators are developing path breaking MedTech products and solutions itself. India has reached an inflection point, which is leading to rapid expansion of HealthTech/ MedTech ecosystem.
The Minister added that India aims to achieve 10-12% of the global market share of the medical devices sector to arrive at a $100-300 billion industry, the government’s draft policy pegs, adding that the country will have about 50 clusters for faster clinical testing of medical devices to boost product development and innovation.
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