THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 10, 2026

The Centre has invited fresh applications under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Promoting Domestic Manufacturing of Medical Devices, with a focus on critical component manufacturing, while easing eligibility norms and reducing investment requirements to attract greater industry participation.

The scheme, which has been extended until 2035-36, has an available outlay of approximately Rs 2,700 crore. The online application portal is expected to become operational within the next 10 days, providing prospective investors an opportunity to participate in the expanded programme.

In a major push towards improving the ease of doing business, the government has discontinued the minimum sales threshold requirement for claiming incentives and reduced the minimum investment requirement. The revised guidelines also allow applicants to submit multiple applications across one or more target segments, with the application window remaining continuously open for an extended period.

Launched in 2020-21, the PLI scheme has already facilitated domestic manufacturing of more than 60 high-end medical devices and components, including X-ray tubes and detectors, 1.5 Tesla MRI machines, linear accelerators (LINAC), CT scanners, mammography machines, catheterisation laboratories (Cathlabs), orthopaedic and cardiac implants, and dialysers.

The initiative has generated production worth more than Rs 16,000 crore, marking a significant step towards strengthening India's domestic medical technology manufacturing ecosystem.

Under the revised framework, companies will be allowed three years to establish manufacturing facilities across four identified target segments. These include medical consumables, disposables and implants; critical components; high-end medical devices where domestic manufacturing is still at a nascent stage; and advanced medical devices that are currently only assembled in the country.

The incentive rates will taper over the scheme period, averaging around 5 per cent for consumables, disposables and implants, approximately 9 per cent for critical components and emerging high-end medical devices, and 6 per cent for devices that are currently assembled domestically.

A key thrust of the revamped scheme is the development of indigenous manufacturing capabilities for critical components, which is expected to strengthen domestic value chains, enhance competitiveness and create fresh opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

While the consumables and disposables segment will focus on achieving manufacturing scale and world-class quality standards, priority in the high-end device segments will be accorded to deeper value chain integration to improve the competitiveness and quality of Made-in-India medical technologies.

The second phase of the scheme, PLI-MD 2.0, aims to accelerate India's transition from an assembly-based manufacturing ecosystem to one capable of producing sophisticated medical equipment and technologies domestically.

The programme will particularly encourage manufacturing of advanced equipment such as 3 Tesla MRI machines, PET-CT scanners, ultrasound probes and consoles, and high-throughput in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) analysers, which are currently not manufactured in the country.

The government expects the expanded initiative to attract fresh investments, strengthen indigenous supply chains, generate employment, improve product quality, reduce the cost of medical devices and enhance India's competitiveness in the global medical technology market.

The initiative is aligned with the broader objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India, with an emphasis on promoting deep manufacturing, reducing import dependence and positioning India as a competitive global hub for high-end medical device production.