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The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has stipulated that the financial support through the sub-scheme Capacity Building and Skill Development for Medical Devices, under the scheme strengthening of medical device industry, can be withdrawn from the universities and institutions if the admissions are less than 30% of the approved annual intake in the first academic year.
The Department has announced a few modifications to the provisions of the sub-scheme for which the operational guidelines were issued in November, 2024. The decision for modifications were taken in a Scheme Steering Committee (SSC) meeting held on April 9, 2025, said DoP.
The existing provisions were that the support will be withdrawn if the total number of students admitted in a particular academic session is less than 50% of its intake.
This provision has been revised now so that the support will be withdrawn, "If, against the annual student intake approved by DoP in its final approval letter, admissions are less than 30% of the approved annual intake in the first academic year, or less than 50% of the approved annual intake in the second or third year."
The rest of the conditions for withdrawal of support, such as that the support will be pulled back if the core faculty strength is less than applicable student-teacher ratio, and delay in implementation of the programme, will remain the same.
On the provisions related to the final settlement of accounts, which stipulated that the grant paid by the DoP shall be refunded by the institution as and when the programme is discontinued midway or the detailed conditions as laid down and approved by the DoP are not followed, the modification adds that the expenditure incurred and claimed towards non-recurring expenses shall not required to be refunded.
The reimbursement provision has also been revised so that the financial support based on the number of students (Rs. 25,000 per student per month for diploma and Rs. 10,000 per student per month for certificate or skill development training programmes) will be provided on quarterly basis to the trainee institute for the number of students enrolled. Earlier, the timeline for reimbursement was not mentioned in the guideline.
When it comes to funding the institutions, the earlier provision was that the DoP will provide up to 75% of the cost of the course or Rs. 21 crore, whichever is lower, on reimbursement basis. This has been modified to state that the reimbursement will be as and when expenditure is incurred.
The financial assistance, as announced in 2024, will be provided to Central government universities/institutes for running multidisciplinary post-graduate courses in medical device with objective of building infrastructure for education and research in medical devices and developing skilled workforce adaptable to changing requirements of medical device sector.
With an aim to provide a big boost to the medical devices industry, the DoP launched the Strengthening of Medical Device Industry in November, 2024, with an outlay of Rs. 500 crore, launching new sub-schemes along with integrating the existing schemes related to the sector under the particular scheme.
This include the Capacity Building and Skill Development for Medical Devices with an outlay of Rs. 100 crore, Marginal Investment Scheme for Reducing Import Dependence for Rs. 180 crore, Common Facilities for Medical Devices Clusters for Rs. 110 crore, Medical Device Clinical Studies Support Scheme for Rs. 100 crore, and Medical Device Promotion Scheme for Rs. 10 crore.
The sub-scheme for capacity building and skill development for the medical device sector is to develop a skilled technical workforce capable of designing and developing MedTech products. The Central government will offer financial support for running various Masters’ and short-term courses.
Under the sub-scheme support up to Rs. 21 crore for Masters’ courses in Central government institutions; and Rs. 10,000 per candidate for short-term courses and Rs. 25,000 per candidate for diploma courses to NCVET approved institutes will be available, said DoP during the time.
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