GE HealthCare targets 2X+ exports from India by 2030

Global medical technology company GE HealthCare is targeting more than a doubling of exports from India and 75% of its local revenue from products designed and manufactured in the country by 2030.

The company announced a ₹8,000-crore investment over five years in 2024 and has so far executed around 30-35% of the plan. The remaining investment will be deployed over the next three to three-and-a-half years across engineering, manufacturing and distribution.

“We are looking for 75% of our local revenue coming from products that are designed and manufactured in India by 2030. And we are looking to make sure that our exports outside of India double, a little bit over double by 2030,” Chaitanya Sarawate, Managing Director, Wipro GE Healthcare and President & CEO, GE HealthCare South Asia, told Business Today.

Sarawate said innovation-led growth and export-led growth are the two areas of focus for the company. GE HealthCare currently exports to nearly 70 countries, with exports growing at a double-digit rate.

India is also home to GE HealthCare’s largest engineering centre globally, with teams handling product design, development, transfer to manufacturing and product lifecycle management.

“We are not just a GCC or a back-room provider. We own end-to-end product design, development, management, transfer to manufacturing all the way to management of the life cycle from here in India,” he said.

The company spends about 10% of its revenues locally on R&D, while products developed in India have found global markets across MRI, CT and PET CT. India is also the company’s single largest facility for developing AI applications, Sarawate said.

GE HealthCare is integrating AI into medical equipment to improve capacity and access. Sarawate cited the company’s AIR Recon DL application for MRI, which he said can reduce an MRI examination from about 45 minutes to 20 minutes while improving image quality. The shorter examination time can allow facilities to scan more patients and make the technology more viable in locations with fewer trained technicians.

“We have to invest in improving products, but we also have to invest in AI application into the business, into the products so that we are actually solving the real-world problems,” he said.

The company is also using digital connectivity to extend specialist support to smaller cities. Sarawate said a project in Uttar Pradesh with Medanta is already live, connecting facilities in smaller cities with a major healthcare centre.

GE HealthCare is also open to acquisitions that can expand its engineering capabilities, manufacturing capacity or differentiation in the market.

“We are always open for the right opportunities, but it has to make sense from a strategy standpoint,” Sarawate said.