Written By: Satata Karmakar | Published : June 7, 2026 8:21 AM IST
Medically Verified By: Dr. Sudhir Srivastava
Dr. Sudhir Srivastava is globally recognized as one of the foremost experts in robotic cardiac surgery
For decades, advanced medical robotics remained concentrated within a few global healthcare ecosystems, largely dominated by the United States, Europe and Japan.
Robotic-assisted surgery, image-guided intervention systems and AI-enabled surgical platforms evolved rapidly in these regions due to strong translational research infrastructure and sustained investments in biomedical engineering. India, despite being one of the world's largest healthcare delivery markets, remained primarily dependent on imported high value medical technologies. Over the last five to six years, however, the landscape has shifted significantly. India's indigenous medical device sector has moved beyond manufacturing led ambitions toward clinically driven innovation, particularly in robotic surgery, digital health integration and minimally invasive intervention technologies.
In an exclusive interaction with TheHealthSite.com, Dr. Sudhir Srivastava, Founder, Chairman and CEO, SS Innovations International, explained that this transformation has been shaped by a convergence of factors, including increasing surgeon engineer collaboration, the expansion of medtech startups, policy support for indigenous manufacturing, growing adoption of minimally invasive surgery (MIS), and the post-pandemic realization that healthcare resilience requires technological self-reliance. More importantly, Indian innovators have begun designing technologies around the realities of high patient volumes, variable infrastructure, and affordability-sensitive healthcare systems, rather than replicating Western healthcare models.
The most visible evolution has occurred in robotic assisted surgery. Historically, access to robotic surgery in India remained limited due to the high capital expenditure associated with imported surgical robotic systems, along with recurring costs involving annual maintenance contracts, proprietary instruments and consumables.
As a result, robotic procedures remained concentrated within select tertiary-care institutions in metropolitan cities.
Indigenous robotic platforms are now changing that equation by enabling scalable access to precision surgery through cost-optimized engineering and localized manufacturing ecosystems. Importantly, the conversation is no longer about developing "low-cost alternatives." Indian innovators are increasingly focusing on advanced capabilities including three dimensional:
From a clinical perspective, robotic assisted surgery offers substantial advantages across multiple specialties including urology, gynaecology, cardiothoracic surgery, gastrointestinal oncology and complex general surgery.
The next frontier now lies in integrating robotic platforms with digital connectivity, machine learning and remote surgical collaboration.
Dr Srivastava noted - "This is where India's progress in telesurgery and decentralized surgical care becomes globally significant. One of the most pressing healthcare challenges in emerging economies is the geographic concentration of advanced surgical expertise within urban centers. Large populations in semi-urban and rural regions continue to face delayed access to subspecialty surgical intervention. Telesurgery, teleproctoring and remote surgical mentoring have the potential to fundamentally alter this imbalance by enabling expert surgeons to extend capabilities beyond physical hospital boundaries."
He further explained that recent advances in indigenous robotic platforms have demonstrated the feasibility of remote surgical intervention and telecollaboration using domestically developed technologies. Systems such as SSI Mantra reflect how Indian innovation is beginning to integrate robotic precision with digital surgical connectivity to create more decentralized models of healthcare delivery. The larger implication is not merely technological achievement, but democratization of advanced surgical care. In the future, a highly skilled surgeon located in a metropolitan center may be able to guide or perform complex minimally invasive procedures across geographically distant locations with greater efficiency and clinical consistency.
India's progress in this domain is no longer theoretical; it is now being demonstrated through real-world long-distance robotic surgical interventions. The SSI Mantra developed by SS Innovations International has successfully enabled complex telesurgeries and telecollaborative procedures both within India and internationally. Among the landmark achievements was the successful robotic telesurgery conducted between India and Perth, Australia across a distance of nearly 10,000 kilometres, along with the world's first pediatric pyeloplasty telesurgery and an intercontinental robotic cardiac robotic surgery performed between India and France. These developments represent far more than technological milestones. They demonstrate the practical feasibility of decentralizing advanced surgical expertise by allowing highly specialized surgeons located in major urban centers to remotely guide or perform procedures in geographically distant regions. In countries such as India, where access to subspecialty surgical expertise remains uneven across tier 2, tier 3 and rural healthcare networks, telesurgery has the potential to significantly reduce disparities in access to complex minimally invasive care. Over time, such digitally connected robotic ecosystems could help create a more equitable surgical infrastructure where quality healthcare delivery is not constrained solely by geography, institutional concentration or availability of local surgical expertise.
Equally important is the broader rise of India's indigenous medical device ecosystem. The country is witnessing increasing innovation in surgical instrumentation, critical care devices, imaging systems, AI-enabled diagnostics and connected healthcare platforms. Indian physician-innovators, biomedical engineers and translational researchers are now playing a far more active role in designing technologies rooted in real-world clinical challenges. This clinician-led innovation model is particularly important because meaningful healthcare technology development must emerge from direct understanding of patient outcomes, workflow inefficiencies and procedural limitations.
However, the path to global leadership in medical robotics remains complex. Surgical robotic systems require rigorous validation involving clinical trials, regulatory clearances, cybersecurity safeguards, interoperability testing and long-term outcomes analysis. Building surgeon confidence through structured training and credentialing pathways is equally essential. Precision manufacturing capabilities, advanced sensors, haptic systems and semiconductor dependencies also remain strategic areas requiring continued investment.
Despite these challenges, India's trajectory in indigenous medical robotics reflects a larger transition within global healthcare innovation. The country is evolving from a technology-importing market into a clinically relevant innovation ecosystem capable of contributing meaningfully to the future of surgery. Over the next decade, the integration of robotics, artificial intelligence, digital connectivity and decentralized care delivery may redefine how advanced surgical intervention reaches patients worldwide. India now has an opportunity not only to participate in that transformation, but to help lead it.
