The Centre has extended the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Promoting Domestic Manufacturing of Medical Devices up to 2035-36 and invited fresh applications from manufacturers, the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, said on Tuesday, November 10. Approximately Rs 2,700 crore of outlay available under the scheme will be used for the purpose.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

Launched in 2020-21, the scheme has so far enabled domestic manufacturing of over 60 high-end medical devices and components that India earlier imported. The revised version, referred to as PLI-MD 2.0, aims to promote domestic manufacturing of advanced equipment such as 3T MRI machines, PET-CT scanners and ultrasound probes, which the ministry said are currently not manufactured in India.

Source: Devdiscourse

2035-36Scheme extended up to
Rs 2,700 croreOutlay available
60+High-end devices now made in India

Eligibility has been eased to draw in more manufacturers. The minimum sales threshold required to claim incentives has been discontinued, and the minimum investment requirement has been reduced. Applicants may submit any number of applications across one or more target segments, and the application window will remain open over a long period. The online application portal is expected to become operational within the next 10 days.

Manufacturers will get three years to set up facilities in any of four target segments: medical consumables, disposables and implants; critical components; high-end medical devices at a nascent stage of domestic manufacturing; and high-end medical devices that are currently only assembled in India. The tapering incentive rate will average about 5 per cent for the first segment, about 9 per cent for the second and third, and 6 per cent for the fourth, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.

The long extension gives manufacturers a predictable policy runway in a capital-intensive sector where investments take years to pay off, and is aimed at cutting India's dependence on imported high-end medical equipment.