Sections of Indian medical device makers have decried a Union environment ministry order allowing imports of refurbished diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, saying the order will undermine domestic industry and could expose healthcare workers and patients to avoidable hazards.

Members of the domestic industry on Friday said they were surprised and disappointed by the environment ministry’s order allowing imports of pre-owned and refurbished medical equipment although India does not permit imports of even refurbished cars or mobile phones.

The ministry on October 15 released a list of 38 “high-end and high-value” medical equipment that could be imported refurbished, under the condition that the equipment has a residual lifespan of at least seven years and does not represent obsolete technology.

The list includes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerised tomography (CT), mammography, imaging equipment, surgical robotic systems, equipment for cardiac procedures such as angiography and coronary stent implantation, among other equipment used in imaging, diagnosis and treatment.

The ministry’s list is a pruned version of a previous one released through a similar office memorandum in June 2023 that had listed 50 types of medical equipment and had evoked intense opposition from domestic industry and even from a government department.

“We’re disappointed to see this list — the ministry has disregarded appeals we’ve been making for months,”said Rajiv Nath, the forum coordinator of the All India Medical Device Industry (AIMED), an association of domestic device makers.

“This policy threatens to undermine the Narendra Modi government’s make-in-India initiative at a time when other government departments have been encouraging the domestic medical device industry through production-linked incentives,” Nath said.

“This is an issue that threatens to impact the domestic industry, healthcare workers and patients,” said Atul Sharma, the co-founder of Involution Imaging, an Indian company that produces catheterisation labs for cardiac angiography and stent implantation.

Domestic medical equipment makers are worried that the policy will open the floodgates for imports of refurbished equipment that will be offered to hospitals at much lower prices than the domestic players can sell new products.