The health ministry appears to be making progress in introducing a medical devices Bill in Parliament. The Bill could be introduced as early as the monsoon session of Parliament and is likely to pave the way for establishing an Indian medical devices regulatory authority. Earlier the department of science and technology had worked on this Bill and subsequently the government decided to have the health ministry take over this responsibility.

Currently, a few medical devices are covered under the Drug and Cosmetics Act and there has been a long standing demand from the medical devices industry to have a separate Bill and regulator for medical devices. The Government is going through the process of consulting state governments and then introducing suitable legislation in Parliament, as medical devices are in the concurrent list of the Indian constitution.

The ventilator market is estimated at Rs. 350 crore in 2009 and has grown over the previous year by 17 percent in value terms. Seasonal climate changes, increasing obesity, pollution, and the swine flu outbreak in 2009 have contributed to the increased demand for ventilators. At the same time, buyers are placing greater emphasis on service, support, user-friendliness, and product design instead of prices and brand names. The homecare and acute care sectors are expected to be the highest contributors to the growth of this segment.

The X-ray equipment market continues to experience sustained demand, and is expected to reach Rs. 303 crore in 2010, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 percent. Although analog X-ray equipment still dominates this market, 2009 may be termed as a watershed year with the acceptance of digital radiography equipment. Reduction of the hazardous effects of X-rays on the human body and getting AERB certification are still the major challenges for manufacturers.

Though urinalysis is among the more commonly undertaken laboratory tests, the growth of this market is comparatively slow. However, increased adoption of self-testing by patients has facilitated the impressive growth of the point of care (POC) diagnostic testing market. The major challenge for manufacturers is to develop POC tests that deliver results as reliable as tests conducted in central laboratories. This gap presents a major opportunity for the brands operating in this market.