Rising import costs put healthcare providers under pressure

Ongoing geopolitical conflicts are beginning to ripple through India’s healthcare sector, disrupting the supply chain of critical medical equipment and pushing up procurement costs for hospitals. From delays in shipments to rising prices of imported devices, healthcare providers are grappling with an increasingly uncertain global market. While large hospital networks have some buffer through bulk purchasing and long-term vendor contracts, smaller and mid-sized hospitals are feeling the strain more acutely. With limited negotiating power and tighter budgets, they are finding it harder to absorb rising costs or navigate supply disruptions, raising concerns about operational sustainability and affordability for patients.

Dr CM Nagesh, Founder of Cardea Super Speciality Hospital, said that the impact is visible across both supply timelines and pricing. He said hospitals are experiencing delays in procurement due to disrupted global logistics and increased dependency on limited manufacturing hubs. “Currency fluctuations and higher freight costs have further inflated prices, especially for imported equipment. This has made planning and inventory management significantly more complex for healthcare providers. The sharpest increases are being observed in high-dependency imported categories such as diagnostic imaging equipment, critical care devices, and surgical consumables. Items like ventilator components, imaging machine parts, and specialised surgical disposables have seen notable cost escalations. Consumables in particular are under pressure due to their recurring demand and dependence on global supply chains,” said Dr Nagesh.

Hospitals are renegotiating vendor contracts, consolidating procurement and exploring alternative suppliers including domestic manufacturers.

Dr Ravindra R of Suguna Hospital and Former President of PHANA, said, “There are delays in supply due to logistics disruptions. Syringes and drips have not increased in price as of now, but if this situation continues, they are likely to go up as well. Dialysis machine prices have already risen due to dollar appreciation. Nitrous oxide, which is essential for hospitals, is also facing supply disruptions. At the association level, we have not yet approached the government, but if this continues for longer, we will have to seek intervention.”

Dr Manish Matoo, CEO and Executive Director, HCG hospital, noted that HCG’s procurement exposure is structurally different from a general hospital group and more vulnerable. “Our spend is heavily concentrated in three high-risk categories: radiation oncology capital (LINACs, imaging solutions— all imported from Varian/Siemens/Elekta/ GE), oncology pharmaceuticals (especially sterile injectables and biologics), and high-precision consumables (brachytherapy seeds, infusion sets, PET tracers, single-use surgical kits),” he explained. He said the India-specific risk layer is significant as the retaliatory dynamics affect API pricing and import flows.

Dr Nagesh said that hospitals are trying to absorb a significant portion of the cost increase to avoid burdening patients, but a complete absorption is not always sustainable. Bangalore Mirror