AI Diagnostics Set to Lead India's MedTech Revolution, Says New Report Released by J.P. Nadda

Jointly developed by Praxis Global Alliance, in association with FICCI, the knowledge paper examines India's evolving AI-enabled MedTech landscape and outlines the strategic actions needed to accelerate responsible AI adoption across healthcare. It explores AI's role in diagnostics, clinical decision support, operational efficiency and medical device innovation, while identifying the regulatory, policy and ecosystem interventions required to enable large-scale adoption. The report while noting that India has already built important foundations through the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), the IndiaAI Mission, SAHI, BODH and the National Medical Devices Policy, 2023, observes that moving AI solutions from successful pilots to large-scale clinical adoption is a major challenge.

The report notes that this transition requires addressing fragmented health data and limited evidence, developing predictable lifecycle-based regulation for adaptive AI, and creating supportive reimbursement and procurement mechanisms. It says, India also has a unique opportunity to leverage its software capabilities, digital public infrastructure, clinical diversity and growing MedTech manufacturing base to become a global leader in the responsible development, manufacturing and deployment of AI-enabled medical technologies.

Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals; Dr. M Srinivas, Member, NITI Aayog; Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research & Director General, ICMR; Punya Salila Srivastava, Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare; Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Secretary, Department of Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT); Sunil Kumar Barnwal, CEO, National Health Authority; Anant Swarup, Secretary General, FICCI; and senior government officials, industry leaders and stakeholders from the MedTech sector were present on the occasion.

Key insights from the knowledge paper

The report highlights five priorities for accelerating AI-enabled MedTech adoption in India:

• MedTech represents India's most immediate and scalable AI opportunity, enabling specialist expertise to be embedded directly into medical devices and expanding access to quality healthcare

• India has the foundations for AI leadership, but not yet the ecosystem for scale. While digital infrastructure, innovation and clinician acceptance have advanced rapidly, AI adoption remains constrained by fragmented data, evolving regulation and limited reimbursement pathways

• India must move beyond successful pilots to routine clinical adoption by addressing three ecosystem gaps: AI-ready data and evidence, lifecycle-based regulation, and procurement and reimbursement mechanisms that recognise AI-enabled value

• AI-enabled diagnostics are expected to be the first large-scale application, helping extend specialist expertise to primary and secondary care, improve productivity and reduce inequities in healthcare access

• Coordinated action across government, regulators, healthcare providers, payers, industry and academia will be essential to position India as a global leader in responsible AI-enabled MedTech