The proposal to form Pharmexcil was mooted with the objective of giving an added thrust to the export of drugs and pharmaceuticals from India as this sector has emerged as a highly promising export earner for the country. Pharmaceutical exporters, who took the initiative in this regard, were nursing a feeling for some time that due importance was not being given for the promotion of pharmaceutical exports by the Chemexcil. Despite that feeling, pharmaceuticals export from India have been growing at the rate of 20 percent over the last three years and it has crossed Rs.12000 crores during the fiscal ended March 2004.Looking at this trend, export growth from this segment is going to be only much bigger from the country in the years to come. There is already a sudden spurt in demand for APIs and intermediates from India and various US and European companies have tied up with Indian companies for regular sourcing. Export growth of chemicals, dyestuffs, agrochemicals and cosmetics,on the other hand, has not been that encouraging for some years from India. In view of this trend, initiative took by the leading pharmaceutical exporters to form a separate export promotion council is not totally out of place. In fact, that move should have come from the Commerce ministry first. That did not happen. Probably that is why pharmaceutical exporters have gone a bit fast to announce the formation of Pharmexcil and got into dilemmatic situation now.
As the complaints have reached the Election Commission over Andhra Pradesh government offer of Rs.3 crores corpus fund for the formation of Pharmexcil, the whole process now comes to a halt. On the other hand, with no notification from the commerce ministry about the formation of the new Council and the Chemexcil chairman pressing for renewal of membership, pharmaceutical exporters are getting utterly confused. Report of the existence of a Model Bye-law, framed by an expert committee constituted by the Commerce ministry itself in 2000, prescribing specific guidelines and procedures for the formation of a new EPC, could put off the whole exercise indefinitely. The Bye law does not permit formation of an EPC for any industry sector which is already under an existing EPC without first forming an Export Promotion Forum. The commerce ministry is expected to monitor the functioning of EPF for four years and then to be converted as a new export promotion council. Nothing like this has happened in the case of Pharmexcil and everyone including commerce ministry officials know about this. In fact, ministry officials should have advised Pharmexcil enthusiasts about the guideline and procedures well before they started announcing its formation to the world.