Incentive scheme ‘to aid’ bulk drug production

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, July 4

Pharmaceutical manufacturers have termed the production-linked incentive scheme for promoting domestic manufacturing of critical key starting materials (KSMs), drug intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients notified by the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers as a crucial step in promoting bulk drug production.

Aimed at reducing dependence on China, the officials of the State Drug Control Administration were encouraging the investors to come forward and avail its benefits. Notably, the domestic pharma industry imported nearly 70 per cent APIs, which is the raw material, from China. An outlay of Rs 6,940 crore has been set aside for this scheme which is open for four months period.

State Drug Controller, Navneet Marwaha, said key pharma associations like the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Himachal Drug Manufacturers Association, Indian Drug Manufacturers Association, Indian Pharma Association, Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Industries Association, Federation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs, etc., were being encouraged to invest in the scheme for manufacturing 58 KSMs and APIs.

Dinesh Dua, chairman of the board of Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India, Chairman Entrepreneurship & Startups CII North India and CEO at Nectar Lifesciences, termed it as a very well-conceived scheme for which the government has provided a staggering amount.

He, however, expressed concern that there were certain hazardous chemicals among the 53 APIs whose technical aspects were being studied and the matter would be taken up with the Central authorities if certain modifications were required in the policy. The step was crucial to avoid backward integration to China for those APIs as given the precarious scenario it was pertinent to attain self-sufficiency in API manufacturing.

An investor would, however, take at least three years for a unit to come into production. He added that the initiative to set up three bulk drug parks, which will further help in reducing dependence on China ,was also laudable and added that Baddi should be allotted one park given the large number of formulation units there while Panipat in Haryana should be allotted another. This will ensure assured availability of APIs to the pharma industry within a 35km to 150 km distance and there would be no need to stock pile the inventory whose supply would be assured.