At the MTaI Fraternity Meeting Secretary DoP Expounds the Concept of ‘Proximate Advantage’

• MTaI held its first Fraternity Meeting of FY-2024-25 which was graced by Secretary, DOP

• The event was also graced by the Deputy Drugs Controller, CEOs & MDs of more than 20+ research and innovation-based MedTech Companies and Industry stalwarts

Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), which represents leading research-based medical technology companies with a large footprint in manufacturing and training in India, recently organized a high-level meeting with government stakeholders, and MediTech industry captains at The Claridges, New Delhi. The event was graced by Dr. Arunish Chawla, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), and Mr. Aseem Sahu, Deputy Drugs Controller, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).

Secretary, DoP with MTaI Chairman & Board Members

The event revolved around Indias prospects and obstacles within the MediTech domain including tariff and non-tariff barriers, price control, procurement challenges, the need for standard harmonization, and streamlining the regulatory landscape. Alongside this, various strategic inputs also were discussed aiming to encourage investments in Indias healthcare sector.

Speaking during the event, Mr. Pavan Choudary, Chairman, MTaI stated, “The government and its offices like the Department of Pharmaceuticals, CDSCO deserve our appreciation for creating policies that have enabled the upward growth trajectory of India’s medical device sector in recent years. The last marker of this ascent is the record breaking FDI in the sector in 2023. The continued learning of the intricacies of this sector will be key to achieving the goal of making India a MediTech hub.”

Addressing the gathering, Dr. Arunish Chawla, Secretary, DoP said, “Most MediTech hubs around the world specialize in a few segments that they robustly export. Therefore, for the growth of the Meditech sector in India, we must initially focus on areas where the country already has some underlying strengths, like Medical Textiles, Consumables, Software, Artificial Intelligence, etc. Growth budding from areas close to our strengths is proximate growth. And this I call the ‘Proximate Advantage‘ which we should leverage to begin with.”

Dr Arunish Chawla added, “This sector – MediTech, as the name suggests is very complex, as all the sciences fathomable converge here like Medical Chemistry, Biotechnology, and various streams of Engineering. Looking at its intricacies, we all should be open to learning from each other. While crafting policies for this niche sector, one needs to understand that every medical device has various sub-groups and every sub-group has different components, and each of these components that is used is made from different raw materials that are available in different geographies.”

“To take a comprehensive view, we have been collating the metadata and will organize the first of its kind, think tank event for the MediTech sector called the ‘India MediStack’ in Delhi NCR. This will be a very important congregation of MediTech experts which will raise the caliber of dialogue in this space.”

MTaIs Fraternity Meeting was attended by industry stalwarts including more than 20 CEOs of leading MediTech companies, where government officials and industry came together, turning the spotlight on a unified way forward in regulations and policies to take the sector to the next level.

About Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI)

Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI – pronounced as Em-tai) is a not-for-profit organization duly registered under sub-section (2) of section 7 of the Companies Act, 2013 and Rule 8 of the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014.

MTaI is an association of research-based medical technology companies that have made remarkable investments in Manufacturing, R&D, and Health Care Workers Training in India. MTaI represents a wide spectrum of the medical device industry with global experience in innovation and manufacturing. All the time stressing the three hallmarks of healthcare – Quality, Consistency, and Patient Safety, MTaI wants to be a responsible voice in the industry. The association is committed to improving access to affordable and quality healthcare for patients.

MTaI looks to partner with the Government of India in setting a roadmap for the growth of the medical devices sector by bringing in even bigger investments in this sector, through Make in India‘ and through technology upgradation and dissemination in the provider space.