By 2030, India will overtake China as the world's most populous nation. With more than 1.2 billion people needing medical care, India is an attractive market for medical devices.
For disposable and low-cost reusable medical products, local and Chinese manufacturers dominate the market. Mid-cost contributors are from Taiwan, and they often sell specialized products. High-end medical devices come from the Western world.
According to Federica Tomasini, who works as a product specialist for Ri.Mos., a manufacturer of disposable gynecological products, pricing in India is a big reason that companies like hers don't have a bigger market share.
"We have a basic range, but we are supplying very special products to the Indian market," Tomasini explained to Plastics News. "Otherwise, it is difficult to compete pricewise with the Chinese and local players."
India's high customs duties of as much as 30 percent on imports make it difficult for foreign manufacturers to cut their prices and still make a profit. Although the policy is designed to promote domestic manufacturing growth, the policy means that the healthcare system only modernizes at the rate of domestic technological development.
"The current policies are favoring the growth of domestic companies," complained Tomoyuki Satake of Fujimoro Sangyo Co. Ltd., which is headquartered in Tokyo. "[The] Indian government should lower duties and allow foreign players to enter and modernize the healthcare sector."
The India Brand Equity Foundation notes that healthcare will only continue to expand as the Indian government continues to invest heavily in the industry. Experts expect the Indian healthcare industry to generate $155 billion in revenue by 2017.
Because the country offers first-world treatment options at third-world prices, India attracts treatment-seekers from many different countries. In the U.K., people who are in the queue for NHS-funded care often decide to skip the waiting period and receive treatment in India.
In 2005, U.K. resident Karen Holman flew to New Delhi for knee surgery. In the U.K., the surgery would have cost 9,000 pounds. In India, the surgery cost 1,400 pounds.
"I wouldn't hesitate recommending coming here," Holman told The Guardian. "Our experience has been brilliant. I came to have one knee done but in the end I've had the other fixed too, to save me coming back again."
Edited by
Rachel Ramsey
