As part of its efforts to promote the pharmaceutical industry in the country, the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has set guidelines for offering grant-in-aid during 2018-19 to institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and agencies. The financial assistance will be provided for conducting seminars, training programmes and studies to promote exports and boost investments.
NGOs and institutions will receive support for conducting programmes focusing on quality improvement, waste management, USFDA notice handling, regulations for clinical trials, pharmaceutical entrepreneur success stories etc.
According to the guidelines, government or academic bodies and national or state level industries' associations like FICCI, CII, Assocham and PHD Chamber of Commerce are eligible for conducting such events. The organisation should ensure that the target group of participants is from pharmaceuticals, medical devices and its related sectors. Full funding would be provided for programmes organised by government departments, institutions and agencies. The aid will be worked out on the basis of thorough objective and realistic assessment of requirement in each case.
Activities organised by autonomous bodies, private agencies, industry associations, private institutions, NGOs and others on the initiative of the DoP or on subjects suggested by it would get up to 75 per cent of the expenditure as assistance. If the events are held on the organisers’ own initiative, the funding will be up to 50 per cent. In the case of mega events such as India Pharma, India Medical Expo and other international events organised jointly by the DoP, the aid will be based on the estimates furnished by organisers and the parameters like expenditure incurred in the past with the concurrence of the IFD and the Department of Expenditure. However, the organisers should agree to the participation of at least one or two technical or administrative officers from the DoP including one from the concerned division free of charge as full delegates.
The norms further state that under no circumstances, funds would be released to an event manager, for any activity of recurring nature or for providing boarding, lodging and travel expenses of speakers or delegates.
The department’s financial assistance will be available for conducting research studies, preparing sector reports, purchasing magazines, pharmacopoeias and software for developing information data banks.
The grant for studies commissioned and purchase of sector reports from reputed institutions will be released in three installments. Thirty per cent will be released as advance once both parties sign an MoU and execute a surety bond. When the draft report is submitted along with an executive summary, 30 per cent more will be released and the remaining 40 per cent can be obtained after the submission and acceptance of the final report.
The event organisers seeking financial assistance should furnish details of the budget estimate along with income expected from registration fee and advertisements. Details of financial support from other organisations and amount of financial assistance required from the DoP also should be clearly mentioned.