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India’s MedTech Eyeing the World: From “Make in India” to a World-Class Medical Devices Ecosystem

India MedTech Leader

Skilled talent + world-class testing infrastructure + manufacturing capability could shape India’s next MedTech leap.

Two recent developments caught my attention.

1. The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) has placed the draft Competency-Based Curriculum for a Diploma in Medical Equipment Technology in the public domain and invited suggestions/comments latest by October 1, 2026.

What makes this interesting is the breadth of the proposed curriculum.

It goes well beyond traditional equipment maintenance to include:

  • Medical imaging & diagnostic systems
  • Critical-care and life-support equipment
  • Clinical engineering & asset management
  • Healthcare IT & cybersecurity
  • AI/ML and Software as a Medical Device
  • Quality, safety, calibration and regulatory compliance
  • A 960-hour clinical internship in a hospital setting

Official NCAHP Draft Curriculum: Diploma in Medical Equipment Technology

2. Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has called upon Indian medtech companies to develop high-quality medical devices for global markets, with the government willing to support 100% of the cost of advanced testing equipment through BIS.

He has also emphasised technology partnerships, joint R&D, global benchmarking and a stronger IPR ecosystem.

The Bigger Picture

Put these two developments together and a bigger picture emerges. India needs to move from “Make in India” medical devices to “Design, Validate, Deploy and Maintain in India.”

That requires three things to move together:

  • Manufacturing capability
  • World-class testing & certification infrastructure
  • A skilled clinical engineering workforce

The proposed NCAHP curriculum addresses the third pillar.

Government support for testing infrastructure addresses an important part of the second.

The opportunity now is to connect these with the first—Indian medtech companies, hospitals, engineering institutions, startups and global technology partners working together to build products that can compete globally.

For me, this is where healthcare policy, medical technology, skilling and public-private partnerships intersect.

And perhaps the most important question is:

Can India build not just world-class medical devices, but the people and institutions capable of designing, testing, deploying and sustaining them at world-class standards?

The answer could have a significant bearing on India's ambition to become a global healthcare and medtech hub.

Discuss on Linkedin

#MedicalDevices #MedTech #Healthcare #HealthPolicy #MedicalTechnology #MakeInIndia #ClinicalEngineering #HealthcareInnovation #PublicPolicy #HealthcareCommunications

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