Status of the Assistive Technology Market for the Physically Challenged in India

 Status of the Assistive Technology Market for the Physically Challenged in India 

Dinesh K Kapila

CGM (Retd) NABARD, 

(Published in The Business Sandesh on 02/10/2026)

 

Assistive Technology (AT) is defined as the application of organized scientific knowledge and skills related to assistive products (APs), which includes systems and services to improve the functioning and independent living of a person with at least one or more functional difficulties or disabilities. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have focused on the need for social inclusion with the affirmation that “no one should be left behind”, and that the governments should make efforts to reach the unreached. 

 

Assistive technology (AT) is essential to minimize functional limitations for the physically challenged. Few studies are there to estimate the prevalence of the needs, met and unmet for ATand the barriers to accessing AT in India. A study of 2023 indicates that the unmet needs among persons with severe or total difficulties was a high proportion and was higher among females, rural residents, and older persons. Spectacles were the most used products, followed by canes/sticks and wheelchairs. Nearly two-thirds of AT users purchased assistive products at their own expense, particularly from the private sector. The inability to afford AT (36.9%) was the most common barrier.

 

In fact, the Indian assistive technology (AT) and facilitative equipment market across all physical disability sectors (locomotor, visual, hearing, speech, and cognitive) is valued at USD 2.5 Billion 

Driven by demographic shifts, a rising geriatric population, and targeted inclusion frameworks like the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan), the market is undergoing a sharp expansion. The  National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) projects that with structured nationwide delivery mechanisms, India's addressable AT market will scale to Rs 75,000–95,000 Crore (approx. USD 8–10 Billion) by 2030.  The dominant segment remains mobility and transfer assistance (valued at nearly USD 400 million), followed by sensory segments like advanced hearing aids and visual accessibility tools. 

 

We as a nation exhibit a massive reliance on imports in this sector. Estimates indicate that 75% to 80% of high-end, advanced assistive technology products and component parts are imported into the country. While basic, purely mechanical aids (standard wooden crutches, manual basic wheelchairs, standard orthotic fitments) are actively mass-manufactured domestically,  primarily via public entities like the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), any solution integrating electronic processing, automation, AI, or advanced materials is heavily source-dependent on international players. 

 

At the Society for Care of the Blind and Institute (School) for The Blind, Chandigarh, of which I am the Chairman in aHonorary Capacity, we observe that most AT Products are manufactured abroad. When we explored about a computerisedbrailler embosser, we were advised that it has to be imported and a grant from a major PSU enabled us to acquire it. The machine is manufactured in Europe. Its manufacturing is complex. The pricing itself puts it out of reach of most institutions.Maintenance is also a concern. The alternative, screen readers and the orbit reader cannot reduce the need for basic equipment such as the Brailler Embosser. Even manual embossers which are a typewriter sort of machine are also imported. Pertinently, the spare parts for such equipment are also made available on orders by the dealers/distributors. Working with the SACC, Mohali, as a Mentor, wherein they also nurture start ups in AT, a similar scenario was observed in physical impairments in other fields.  

 

The software for the laptops / PCs, developed specifically as a vital technological aid for better usage by the visually impaired, is from Europe. It’s costly and requires assistance from donors. Even updates are priced. Sensors for canes to enable better mobility are also from Europe or the USA. Some initiatives in manufacturing and technology are occurring in India but then the issue of reliability, testing and quality are concerns. This is a vital area and requires innovation within India and ideally financially prudent pricing considering most visually impaired are from the economically disadvantaged sections. Technology has truly transformed the landscape of special education, especially for the visually impaired students. In our Institute, ithas been a game-changer, not just in academics, but in helping students become more independent, confident, and empowered in their daily lives. Hence the need for affordable, high capacity AT Products. 

 

The structural skew toward importing facilitative equipment stems from several systemic and economic constraints, a lack of domestic R&D and manufacturing ecosystem and component bottlenecks, Indian factories do not produce the specialized sub-components, such as micro-controllers, precision sensors, miniature microphones for hearing aids, or lightweight carbon fiber for advanced bionic limbs. Although top-tier institutions like the IITs have designed high-quality prototypes, India lacks the specialized manufacturing lines required to scale these into regulatory-approved, low-cost commercial products.  A fragmented market and out-of-pocket cost dynamics are another reason, there is a low B2C Commercialization because nearly 69% of India’s disabled population resides in rural pockets with limited purchasing power, standard direct-to-consumer commercial models are financially challenging. Local manufacturing is also discouraged by the fact that the ecosystem relies heavily on low-margin institutional bidding, government distribution schemes or NGO procurement programmes rather than a robust, reasonable margin consumer retail market. 

 

A challenge are the strict regulatory gaps and standard misalignment, specially Medical Certification Gaps. Advanced AT products fall under strict medical device regulations. Acquiring certifications like Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) approval can be delayed due to a historically ambiguous categorization of AT versus traditional medical hardware. Then there is the reality check, Internationalprocurement platforms frequently mandate global quality benchmarks (like CE or FDA compliance) which local MSMEs do not possess the capital to achieve, pushing institutional buyers back to trusted imports. 

 

There is an assistive technology disconnect in healthcare, specially a lack of specialized training, Assistive tech is not deeply codified as a separate, independent healthcare vertical within India’s national health ecosystem. Without dedicated clinical AT professionals to counsel, fit, and troubleshoot complex smart aids, local markets fail to mature, keeping the ecosystem reliant on turn-key import systems. Indian startups are actively addressing import reliance by building domestic ecosystems backed by top engineering talent (primarily from IITs) and social incubators Noteworthy in this regard is the SACC Mohali / India, The Start Up Accelerator Chamber of Commerce, a non-profit empowering innovation and entrepreneurship since 2014, it fosters self-employment and economic growth across Bharat through dedicated support and initiatives. It has ably mentored two cohorts of start ups in assistive technology. This needs to be acknowledged as North West India has not been really focused culturally and commercially on such issues.  Incidentally, most start ups in the AT space are evolving in the South and West of the nation.  

 

Public procurement drives mass scaling in India's assistive technology market. It operates via two tightly defined pathways: direct government distribution and digital marketplace procurement, channeled through mass camps and Government programmes.  The primary consumer channel for public deployment is the Assistance to Disabled Persons  Scheme under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. The recently introduced Divyang Sahara Yojana has further expanded this. The government-run ALIMCO acts as the centralized implementing vehicle. It evaluates, standardizes, lists, and buys items in massive tender lots to disperse them across state distribution camps and specialized Pradhan Mantri Divyasha Vayoshri Kendras. 

                     

All Government Owned Institutions, public hospitals, or defense veteran programs seeking to buy assistive aids are legally bound to use the GeM portal. To get cataloged on the  GeM for public purchase, devices must display valid Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) or Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) clearance. This regulatory process is an expensive bottleneck for lean startups. Public procurement rules favor companies with Local Content (LC) parameters above 50%. 

 

Because assistive technology has a long R&D cycle and a highly fragmented end-consumer base, traditional tech VC firms often view it as a high-risk sector. As a result, the funding landscape relies on a blended finance model: government grants build the prototype, impact funds scale the manufacturing, and mainstream VCs step in once commercial viability is proven. Before institutional investors chip in, startups survive on equity-free public grants designed for deep-tech hardware, the BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council), a public sector enterprise that runs the BIG (Biotechnology Ignition Grant) scheme, providing up to ₹50 Lakhs for early-stage validation, and the BIPP for clinical trials. The TDB (Technology Development Board), provides soft loans and equity configurations for scaling commercial production lines of innovative hardware. 

 

Specialized Impact Investors and Incubators are the most active players in the Indian AT landscape, offering ecosystem support alongside funding. Some run specialized accelerator tracks with corporate CSR funds and write initial seed-stage chequesalongside lab-to-market testing support. Traditional venture entities with dedicated impact or deep-tech allocations back companies that have passed the seed stage and can demonstrate a steady B2B or B2G (Government) revenue pipeline.

 

The CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Programme, under Indian law, companies with a certain profitability must spend 2% of their average net profits on CSR. Large corporate firms routinely use CSR capital to fund AT pilots. Navigating the venture capital landscape for Assistive Technology (AT) in India requires balancing commercial scaling with social impact.Overall, CSR funding is highly effective for scaling AT ventures. This serves as a vital B2B revenue driver for the startup. Corporates at times route their CSR budgets through technology business incubators housed within academic institutions (like IITs). These incubators can disburse equity-free grants or seed debt directly to early stage start ups. While CSR funding offers a strong path forward, relying on it introduces specific operational challenges, most corporate CSR committees operate on a twelve month budget cycle. They look for quick deployment, which conflicts with the multi-year engineering and field-testing cycles that deep-tech AT needs. Corporations often prioritize projects located near their manufacturing plants or corporate headquarters. This makes it difficult for a startup based in one city to secure funding from a corporate entity operating to another region. Startups have to provide comprehensive impact documentation, including Utilization Certificates (UCs) and third-party impact assessment audits. Managing this paperwork can overwhelm lean, early-stage engineering teams.

 

Affordability is the single biggest factor shaping the Indian AT market. The economic reality of the target audience determines how products must be engineered and sold.  The Low-Income Density,  over 65% to 70% of individuals with disabilities in India live in rural pockets or lower-income urban environments. For these households, out-of-pocket spending on a Rs 50,000 smart wheelchair or a Rs 30,000 bionic hand is financially impossible. To achieve mass scale, startups should ideally lower their production costs or tweak their business models within India. Else the market gets confined to the better off urban consumers. Indian startups do use structural innovation to lower costs, this allows them to offer high-quality functionality at lower costs but it needs more acceptance. 

 

India is home to the world's largest visually impaired population, with an estimated 50 million people dealing with varying degrees of vision loss, including approximately 8 million who are completely blind. Historically, this segment was restricted to low-tech assistive tools like traditional foldable white canes or static Braille books. Today, a wave of deep-tech startups, localized engineering, and computer-vision software is transforming how mobility, education, and workplace digital inclusion are delivered. At the Institute for The Blind, focused as we are on technology, we observe that costs constrain us to the lower price band of a product with lower features. A device that costs Rs 52000/- for the basic model has a much better higher version model that costs Rs 150000/-. That is the barrier. 

 

There are initiatives to bypass the socio-economic hurdles, Indian ventures are utilizing specialized architectural approaches to keep products affordable, Instead of building expensive processors directly into devices, which drives up unit costs, startups use the user's existing smartphone. However these are all pilots. A major limitation of imported Western assistive tools is their dependency on high-speed internet and English-only models. Indian innovators are now  training light, compressed AI models to translate text into regional Indian languages. These initiatives are welcome. Technology alone cannot solve the gap without systemic delivery pipelines. It’s still a work in progress as of now. 

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