The Indian medical devices industry is heavily dependent on China for raw materials and electronic components. However, as the number of coronavirus (Covid-19) cases continues to rise, it is likely to affect India’s heavily import-dependent medical product supply chain and may result in the shortage of critical medical devices, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s research reveals that the Indian medical devices market, which accounted for more than 13% of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) medical devices market in 2019, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5% through 2025.

India imports a variety of consumables, disposables and capital equipment including orthopedic implants, gloves, syringes, bandages, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging devices from China.   

Rohit Anand, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Currently, medical device manufacturers across India are struggling to get important raw materials and electronic components from Chinese factories, which were shut for weeks to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Even as some of the factories have reopened, shortages of some critical electronic parts and raw material still persist.”

Over the last few months, the shortage has started impacting the margins and profitability of Indian companies importing medical devices and small components to manufacture finished products.     

Anand concludes: “We may see a price rise of some of the medical devices in the short term but the supply of products such as masks and sanitizers will be severely impacted as the demand has surged amid the outbreak.                     

“Domestic manufacturers should immediately look for other alternative sources to import raw material and electronic components. Indian government should take measures to reduce dependency on China as it may take longer for the country to come out of this threat. On the other hand, this could be an opportunity for India to become a hub of global medical device manufacturing.”