India has reopened applications under its Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Promoting Domestic Manufacturing of Medical Devices, extending the programme up to 2035–36 with an outlay of approximately Rs 2,700 crore.
The outlay is aimed at accelerating indigenous manufacturing of high-end medical equipment and strengthen India's medical technology ecosystem.
The online application portal is expected to become operational within the next 10 days, allowing manufacturers to submit fresh applications under the revamped PLI-MD 2.0 scheme.
Launched in 2020–21, the original scheme has already delivered significant gains, supporting domestic manufacturing of more than 60 high-end medical devices and components. These include X-ray tubes and detectors, 1.5T MRI machines, linear accelerators (LINAC), CT scanners, mammography machines, Cathlab equipment, orthopaedic and cardiac implants, and dialyzers.
Production under the scheme has crossed Rs 16,000 crore, marking a significant push towards reducing India's dependence on imported medical technologies.
Building on the experience of the first phase, the government has introduced a series of changes to make the scheme more accessible to investors, simplify eligibility conditions and ease the process of claiming incentives.
Companies will be given three years to establish manufacturing facilities across four designated target segments:
TS 1: Medical consumables, disposables and implants.
TS 2: Critical components.
TS 3: High-end medical devices where domestic manufacturing is currently at a nascent stage.
TS 4: High-end medical devices that are currently only assembled in India.
The tapering incentive rate will average approximately 5% for TS 1, 9% for TS 2 and TS 3, and 6% for TS 4.
The government is looking to build manufacturing scale and ensure world-class quality in the consumables and disposables segment. For TS 3 and TS 4, the emphasis will be on deeper value-chain integration to improve the competitiveness and quality of domestically manufactured medical devices.
A renewed focus on critical component manufacturing is also expected to strengthen domestic supply chains while creating fresh opportunities for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.
In a major departure from the earlier framework, the minimum sales threshold required to claim incentives has been discontinued, while the minimum investment requirement has also been reduced.
The government has further relaxed procedural requirements to improve Ease of Doing Business and make the scheme more investor-friendly.
Companies will be allowed to submit multiple applications across one or more target segments. The application window will also remain continuously open for an extended period, giving investors greater flexibility to plan and establish manufacturing operations.
PLI-MD 2.0 is aimed at advancing the government's Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India ambitions by attracting investments, building indigenous supply chains, generating employment and improving the quality and affordability of domestically manufactured medical devices.
A key priority will be to deepen manufacturing capabilities in advanced medical technologies that are currently not manufactured in India. These include 3T MRI systems, PET-CT scanners, ultrasound probes and consoles, and high-throughput in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) analysers.
Beyond boosting domestic production, the expanded scheme seeks to reduce the cost of medical devices, improve access to advanced healthcare technologies and position India as a more competitive player in the global medical technology market.
