New Delhi: The government on Wednesday approved 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in medical devices via the automatic route.
At present, the medical devices sector falls under the pharmaceutical category and is accordingly subjected to FDI limits and other conditions such as mandatory government nods.
While 100 percent FDI in permitted in the pharma sector, the FDI is permitted through automatic route in the case of greenfield investment or new venture and the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval is required in the case of brownfield investment or in existing companies.
Stressing on the need for greater FDI in medical devices and equipment sectors, the industry feels there is no threat of mergers and acquisitions from multi-national firms as domestic companies are not big, unlike the drug firms.
As per estimates, India imports about 70 percent of its requirement of medical devices. The industry size in the country is about USD 7 billion.
Medical devices include wide range of products such as sutures, implants and surgical instruments.
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