Private sector growth boosts India's medical devices market

The country could rely more on the sector due to rising healthcare expectations.

Though 2021 will be a tough year for India’s medical devices market, rising healthcare expectations of the expanding middle class alongside further development of the private sector will encourage growth for the market, according to a report from Fitch Solutions.

India’s medical device market performance remains robust, supported by government initiatives to improve healthcare accessibility, the report added. The government will continue to reduce its high import dependency through the Make in India initiative.

“The main obstacle from the interruption of the pandemic for this initiative will be extended disruption to supply chains as a result of the fallout of COVID-19 but the funding schemes are expected to continue without issue,” Fitch said.

India’s healthcare spending rose in 2020 but the public percentage of healthcare expenditure has fallen, which will help drive the country’s medical device market growth in the coming years.

Further, the country is expected to be more reliant on its more developed private sector driven by its rising healthcare expectations of the expanding middle class.

“The private sector is the main provider of healthcare in urban areas and the government is seeking to improve access by expanding the uptake of health insurance and making private healthcare more affordable,” the report added.

However, vaccine hesitancy might hold back the sector’s growth. The vaccine rollout is one of the largest globally, but the uptake from the public has been much lower than expected due to public concerns over safety and misinformation.

“Since the beginning of rollout efforts in January 2021, uptake has improved somewhat but will need to improve to aid recovery efforts, particularly among high-risk individuals and healthcare professionals,” the report stated.