Companies
GE HealthCare plans manufacturing hub in India
Summary
- GE HealthCare operates a joint venture in India with Wipro Ltd, named Wipro GE Healthcare, where it holds 51%.
NEW DELHI : Medical technology giant GE HealthCare plans to scale up manufacturing in India and has chosen the country as part of its strategy to diversify beyond China, a top executive said.
An official announcement on the manufacturing boost is expected soon.
“India for India makes sense. And China for the world used to be the biggest title. Today, I want to say China and India for the world, not only China. We need to balance. You don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Now, here’s the point. India will need to make sure the infrastructure exists for these companies to grow. We will have much more manufacturing," said Elie Chaillot, president and chief executive, intercontinental, GE HealthCare.
GE HealthCare operates a joint venture in India with Wipro Ltd, named Wipro GE Healthcare, where it holds 51%. The joint venture has already signed up for the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the medical devices sector. The joint venture already makes over 30 products in India, exporting 45% of its production to about 70 countries. The fresh manufacturing plans will be over and above production under the PLI scheme.
“You’ll hear some very good news soon of machines manufactured in India. We were always at the forefront of manufacturing in India, for India and the world. And we’re building on this for the future," Chaillot added.
Under the PLI scheme for medical devices, a total of 26 projects have been approved, with a committed investment of ₹1,206 crore. Out of this, an investment of ₹714 crore has been achieved. Fourteen projects producing 37 products have been commissioned, and domestic manufacturing of high-end medical devices has started, which include MRI Scan, CT-Scan, Mammogram, C-Arm, MRI Coils and high-end X-ray tubes.
The government announced the National Medical Devices Policy, 2023, to facilitate growth of the medical device sector in the country.
Chaillot said India has three segments of people that are in all categories.
“The Indian market is a mixture of three things - the very super-premium, the premium market and the value market. In the value market, if you look at tier 2, tier 3 cities and onward, some of the patients don’t have access to healthcare. And so this is where the job and the mission come together. My mission is to make sure that in India, I cater for this population. And this population exists also in Southeast Asia, Mexico, Brazil and all these countries," he further said.
GE HealthCare’s intercontinental business, which Chaillot heads, comprises 60 countries across Latin America, India & South Asia, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
