The Hindu Business Line : `Artificial limbs market set to grow 30 pc'

THE market for prosthetics or artificial body parts in India is estimated to grow to $7.5 billion by 2009 from the present $2.5 billion. The share of artificial limbs and joints in the overall growth of the market is also expected to be about 80 per cent in the next five years time.

According to a PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) study, India could become the prime destination even for the foreigners to overcome their physical deformities. A cost advantage over other global competitors would enable India to post an annual growth rate of 30 per cent in the next five years. The study has underlined that while the imported prosthesis is priced at Rs 1.3 lakh, those developed in India cost only Rs 26,000.

One indicator for such a rapid growth is the rise in orthopaedic surgeries registered in the country in the past five years.

It has been estimated that close to 5-6 lakh orthopaedic surgeries per year are being performed in the country. With a sedentary life-style on the rise, this number is expected to grow by 6 per cent annually in the next five years.

To retain the growth momentum of the prosthetics sector , the study has pitched for a centralised nodal agency to procure and market indigenous products for enhanced exposure and penetration of foreign and domestic markets in the coming year.

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