BY DR. GSK VELU, FOUNDER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, TRIVITRON GROUP OF COMPANIES:
New Delhi, Jan 03, 2015: “While 100% FDI in Medical Devices sector is a welcome in our opinion this was already in existence and many MNCs have 100% subsidiaries in India though predominantly with trading and distribution focus. As a part of this new initiative actions should be taken to control and restrict 100% trading subsidiary operations in India. These trading subsidiaries does not have any manufacturing intent and in fact even distribution margins are being expatriated back to their parent countries by adopting several means. Hence apart from 100% FDI in Medical Devices sector government should create right eco system for manufacturing in the country which presently has ” Pro Imports” policies with Inverse Duty structure, lack of control on imports using High Sea Sales route and no coordinated efforts between Academia/ Indian Industry in the R&D initiatives. While MNC s should be encouraged to come and manufacture in India, Indian Domestic companies with majority Indian Ownership should be given special preference in Govt Procurement etc as it is happening in other countries like China, Turkey, Brazil, Russia and many other countries. We sincerely hope a New Medical Devices wing will be created under Department of Pharmaceuticals to promote Indigenous Medical Devices companies by understanding and attending to their needs in this budget.
Views on 100% FDI in Medical devices by Dr. GSK Velu, Trivitron
But overall it is a good news Government is willing to listen to the views of over 750 Indian Manufacturers in this segment and implement changes to the tariff structure and regulatory structure in the upcoming budget. Indian Manufacturers are of the view Government should do away with 100% Customs duty exemption for all product categories as this has not benefited the end patients over the past two decades. As per the recent reports in the media, a Drug Eluting Stent which is being manufactured for Rs 5000 is being imported to India with around Rs 40,000 with nil Customs Duty and the end patient pays around Rs 1.5 lakhs for the same. Hence there is no rationale for Zero Customs duty for any Finished Goods imports and there should be atleast 20% customs duty exemption between Finished Goods imports and Raw Materials/ Components import for ultimate manufacturing in the country. Hence there is an urgent need to boost innovation and manufacturing in this Industry of 35,000 crs with over 80% imports and as a largest Medical Technology company of Indian Origin with 8 Functional US FDA and/or CE certified facilities and 4 R&D facilities, Trivitron is in the forefront of interacting with government through various industry associations like FICCI, AIMED and Assocham to create the right eco system for the Medical Devices Industry to remove import dependency and make India Outward looking with substantial exports in around 5 to 10 years from now.”CCI Newswire
