|
With the state and Central governments further extending the lockdown due to the unrelenting cases of COVID-19 across the country, industry experts particularly from the medical devices sector have expressed concern that the sector is in doldrums due to severe financial crisis and logistic bottlenecks in the supply of medical devices. Industry leaders have now urged the government to immediately provide various relief measures for the medical devices sector to recuperate back to its normal state.
According to members from Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), as already the medical devices sector is facing tough time with regard to financial crisis and bottlenecks in the supply chain and eagerly waiting for the lockdown to end. However, with both the state and central governments announcing further extension of the lockdown for two more weeks, it has further dampened the hopes of the industry to come out of the crises. Experts from the sector have called for immediate attention of the governments and urged to provide early relief measures to help the medical devices sector recuperate the losses due to the lockdown since past more than two months now.
“The main reason for the fast downfall of the medical devices sector is due to drastic fall in the occupancy rate of hospitals which has come down from 90-95 per cent to 20-30 per cent during the lockdown period. Adding to this, the impounding financial crisis and logistic bottlenecks hindering the supply of medical devices has also had a huge toll on the growth of the medical devices sector in India. As the government has put a restriction on surgeries and demarcation of capacity for COVID-19 patients, hospitals are facing a steep decline in the revenues and in turn they are not able to pay the dues to the medical device suppliers and thus the sector is facing severe financial crisis as the operational costs are increasing steadily,” observed Pavan Choudary, chairman and director general of MTaI.
While suggesting immediate relief package to help the medical devices industry recuperate back to its normal condition, the MTaI DG urged the government to immediately release the pending payments to the providers. He also suggested the government to provide tax exemptions on GST and exempt basic customs duty to medical devices industry to cope with the liquidity challenges.
Adding further, Choudary also urged the government to revoke additional 5 per cent health cess on the medical devices and help the industry to avail zero interest working capital loans.
|