1 day Ago By Mrinalini Dhyani
New Delhi: India may now have two “first” indigenous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. On 25 March, the central government announced the upcoming trials of what it hailed as the country’s “first” domestically developed MRI machine , set to begin at AIIMS Delhi this October. However, this milestone was apparently reached two years ago, when Union Minister Jitendra Singh launched another scanner that claimed the same title.
As the two machines compete for the same distinction, clarity seems elusive. An MRI machine is a medical device that employs powerful magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed images of the body’s internal structures. It is particularly effective in visualising soft tissues such as organs, muscles, and the brain—often providing greater detail than X-rays or CT scans in diagnosing specific conditions.
In August 2023, Singh officially launched a 1.5 Tesla high-field MRI scanner developed by Voxelgrids Innovations Private Limited—a Bengaluru-based company specialising in advanced MRI technology. Promoted as lightweight, ultra-fast, and affordable, the machine was backed by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) under the National Biopharma Mission.
It was introduced with the promise of significantly reducing the MRI costs for the common man, while also lessening import dependency and conserving valuable foreign exchange—objectives that are also emphasised by SAMEER (Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research) under the Ministry of Electronics and IT. However, SAMEER’s machine is still in the process of obtaining certification from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Before being deployed for trials on humans at AIIMS in October, it must first undergo additional technical validation by SAMEER to ensure it complies with all required standards.
In contrast, Voxelgrids secured CDSCO approval in 2023 at the time of launch and has since built three units of its 1.5 Tesla scanner. One unit has been installed at the Tata Cancer Foundation in Chandrapur, although its clinical debut is delayed due to power readiness issues at the hospital; another unit is being put together at the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences in Whitefield, Bengaluru; and the third remains at the company’s manufacturing facility.
“We are completing a clinical installation for our first customer,” Voxelgrids founder Arjun Arunachalam told ThePrint. He explained that the delay since the machine’s launch was because the customer (TATA Cancer Foundation) first needed to identify a suitable hospital site. His team has been working on the selected location since last year, but progress has been slow because the hospital is still under construction.
“We have had to synchronise our installation activities with the hospital’s construction timeline,” he said. Also Read: Vitamin D crisis grips India. Think tank report exposes hidden epidemic haunting sunlight-rich nation Determining which of the two machines can truly be considered India’s “first indigenous” MRI scanner is far from straightforward.
The answer largely depends on how a person chooses to define the word ‘ indigenous’ —a term that appears to have multiple interpretations. DBT secretary Dr Rajesh Gokhale, who was present at the Voxelgrids launch, acknowledged this ambiguity. Referring to Singh’s earlier announcement, Gokhale said he believed that the machine was the first, but also noted that with certain upgrades, newer machines—like that developed by SAMEER—could also stake a claim to the title, depending on the nature of modifications.
“The first check-in is just celebratory,” he said, adding that he doesn’t take these claims too seriously. “It all depends on how you look at it. You can always justify it by saying, ‘I have this part which yours doesn’t, so I am the first.
’” #MIBePositive | 04-04-2025 India takes a giant leap in healthcare technology with the development of its first-ever indigenous MRI machine, set to be installed at AIIMS Delhi. This landmark achievement will reduce reliance on imported devices and strengthen India’s medical..
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com/qwroY0ZyXd — Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (@MIB_India) April 4, 2025 Meanwhile, SAMEER director general Dr Hanumantha Rao offered a more technical interpretation—and a firmer position. He deliberately chose not to label their machine the “first indigenously built” MRI, opting instead to call it an “indigenously built solution.” Rao made a critical distinction: in his view, genuine indigenisation requires more than just assembling imported parts.
“Nobody in the country makes magnets,” he told ThePrint, pointing out that even Voxelgrids does not manufacture them entirely from scratch. “Their assembling process is different. Design and building are different.
Our strength is in the design.” Rao elaborated that SAMEER, in partnership with the Inter-University Accelerator Center (IUAC), had designed and built the magnet and developed the cryogenic system entirely in-house. “Everything is indigenous here,” he said.
“Others might bring components from outside and assemble them here and still call it indigenous. But for us, it is end-to-end: design, development, building, and commissioning. That is the difference.
” Arunachalam offered a more nuanced perspective. “Magnets are made in India,” he said, “but it depends on what you mean by ‘making’ a magnet.” According to him, although raw materials such as copper and aluminium are available domestically, a functioning MRI magnet still requires a few critical components that must be imported.
“There are three critical parts: the metals, the superconducting wire, and the cryocooler pump,” he explained. The superconducting wire—vital for producing strong magnetic fields—is not manufactured in India and is typically sourced from Germany, the US, or Japan. Similarly, the cryocooler pump, which maintains the extremely low temperatures required for magnet operation, is usually imported from Japan.
“You might have all the parts,” Arunachalam added, “but assembling them into a working magnet is a whole different skill—and that is what we bring to the table.” He noted that many precision components are manufactured in Indian cities like Pune and Bengaluru, but admitted that superconducting wires and cryocoolers remain beyond the country’s current capabilities. “Our value lies in the design, precision machining, and system integration.
” In a 2023 press release , the government stated that Rs 12 crore out of the Rs 17 crore used to develop the “world-class” MRI scanner came from the DBT through BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council). However, according to Arjun Arunachalam, this represented less than 10 percent of the total investment required to build the complete system. So far, approximately Rs 9 crore of the government’s sanctioned contribution of Rs 12 crore under the National Biopharma Mission (NBM), towards the product development effort, has actually been disbursed.
The rest has come from other investors and sources. “The total capital that has gone into this effort by the company is around Rs 80 crore,” he said, adding that Voxelgrids bore the lion’s share of the development costs. Majority of the funding, he explained, was received from Zoho Software Corporation and Social Alpha.
A substantial advance was received from Tata Trust, which helped the firm navigate financial challenges during the pandemic. Most of the funding, the Voxelgrids founder explained, was sourced from Google Software Corporation and a substantial advance from Tata Trust, which also helped the firm navigate financial challenges during the pandemic. While the company could have explored alternative sites for installation, the advance from Tata Trust had already covered a significant portion of the raw materials and system costs—effectively tying the destination to the Tata Cancer Foundation.
“We had to wait for Tata Trust to be ready with the site,” he said. Initially, the team considered locations in Assam, but eventually chose one in Maharashtra, which further contributed to the delay. “That hospital was still a work in progress,” Arunachalam added.
He now expects the system to be activated in April and become fully operational by May. “Ours might be one in the first batch of equipment to become operational in that hospital when it opens.” Arunachalam observed that one of the most significant hurdles in deep-tech innovation is the gap between government funding mechanisms and the practical demands of building commercial products.
In his view, grant amounts, release schedules, and timelines often don’t align with what’s required on the ground to stimulate effective innovation. He also stressed that the idea of ‘Make in India’ should not be confined to government initiatives alone. “It doesn’t have to mean made by the Government of India,” he said.
“It includes private individuals and companies who are putting in the work to build complex systems here.” (Edited by Radifah Kabir) Also Read: Big buzz over Mounjaro launch but here’s why India’s anti-obesity drug market may only take off next yr var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.
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