India Accelerates Push to Become Global MedTech Hub

New Delhi, August 09, 2026 India is stepping up efforts to strengthen its medical technology ecosystem, with a focus on innovation, investment, domestic manufacturing and expanding the global reach of Indian MedTech companies. Union Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister J.P. Nadda on Saturday chaired a CEO roundtable at India Medical Device 2026 at Vigyan Bhawan. Organised by the Department of Pharmaceuticals with FICCI, the meeting brought together more than 40 CEOs from global and domestic medical technology companies and MSMEs. Discussions focused on strengthening manufacturing, encouraging investment and innovation, and creating a supportive policy and regulatory environment for India’s medical device sector. Nadda also released the knowledge paper “AI in MedTech: Revolutionizing Healthcare Through Artificial Intelligence”, jointly prepared by Praxis Global Alliance and FICCI. The report examines India’s growing AI-enabled MedTech ecosystem and outlines measures needed to move AI solutions from successful pilot projects to wider clinical use. It identifies fragmented health data, limited clinical evidence, evolving regulations and inadequate reimbursement pathways among the key challenges. The report highlights initiatives including the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, IndiaAI Mission, SAHI, BODH and the National Medical Devices Policy, 2023, while calling for AI-ready data, stronger evidence generation, lifecycle-based regulation and suitable procurement and reimbursement mechanisms. AI-enabled diagnostics are expected to be among the first major areas of large-scale adoption. Earlier, ICMR Director General and Secretary, Department of Health Research, Dr Rajiv Bahl, chaired a session on “Reimbursement Mechanisms for Innovative Therapies in India’s Path to Universal Health Coverage”. Bahl stressed the need for robust clinical evidence to guide regulatory, reimbursement and procurement decisions for new medical technologies. He said medical innovations must ultimately translate into healthcare that is affordable, accessible and sustainable, adding that evidence of clinical effectiveness was essential for assessing the cost-effectiveness and health-economic value of new technologies. He cautioned that exemptions from evidence-generation requirements could make it difficult for innovative technologies to demonstrate their value before Health Technology Assessment (HTA), reimbursement and procurement authorities. Participants also called for transparent HTA processes, realistic pricing, sustainable reimbursement systems, greater clinician involvement and stronger training mechanisms. The event brought together senior officials from the Departments of Pharmaceuticals, Health Research, Health and Family Welfare and Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, along with representatives from NITI Aayog, the National Health Authority, FICCI and leading MedTech companies. The discussions underlined the importance of cooperation between government, regulators, healthcare providers, payers, industry and academia to enable responsible and large-scale adoption of AI in healthcare. With India’s digital infrastructure, software capabilities and expanding medical device manufacturing base providing a strong foundation, the deliberations at India Medical Device 2026 highlighted the country’s ambition to emerge as a competitive, innovation-driven global MedTech hub.