Maharashtra has always topped the list of states conducive to business. Right from the time economic reforms began in 1991, Maharashtra has been hot property for all key industry sectors including pharmaceticals, attracting close to 20 per cent of all investment into the country since then. It has also generated almost a fifth of all jobs.
Maharashtra has a clear edge on all infrastructural metrics. The capital city of Mumbai is the biggest financial centre.Proximity to ports itself is great advantage to the state. Besides, good road connectivity, probably the best power situation, closeness to markets too work richly in favour of this financial centre.
In an effort to further boost the infrastructure support to the thriving industry sectors, Maharashtra has recently initiated steps to encourage public- private partnership in infrastructure. The government has outlined Maharashtra Infrastructure Development Support Act or MIDAS for private sector partnership in infrastructure. The law seeks to create a single -window clearance for infrastructure projects, the chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde, announced.
The state is a nerve centre for pharmaceutical sector. Nearly 40 per cent of drugs and pharmaceuticals produced in the country are manufactured in Maharashtra. Accordingto figures available, there are around 4638 large, medium and small manufacturing units operating across the state, mostly concentrated on regions of Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Nashik, Aurangabad and Pune.
Growing at a pace of 10 to 15 per cent per annum, it houses more than 3,500 facilities which are engaged in the production of formulations. Regarding the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), Maharashtra comes third.
Though no actual figures are available, it is estimated that almost 70 per cent of APIs and about fifty per cent of formulations produced in the country are exported from Mumbai. Lupin, Wockhardt, Cipla, Nicholas Piramal, J B Chemicals are among the leading exporters from Mumbai. Exports too are reportedly growing at the rate of 15 per cent yearly.
Maharasttra triumphs significant achievements in drug regulation and trade. The state has almost become a model for its neigbours and other states by setting novel trends in the administrative machinery for pharmaceuticals. ``The Maharashtra FDA is cited as an inspiring model for sister concerns. When delegates from neighbouring countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh visited the country to learn more about the Indian drug regulatory mechanism, they are led to Maharashtra FDA. We have started training programmes for drug inspectors from other states,'' saidS W Deshpande, Joint Commissioner (Vigilance), FDA, Maharashtra.
Maharashtra is the first to adopt integrated approach as regards to both quality of food and drugs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Maharashtra has Commissioner appointed from the Indian Civil Service at the helm of affairs. He is assisted by four Joint Commissioners at the headquarters in Mumbai.
District offices are headed by Assistant Commissioners. There are around 159 Drug Inspectors, 265 Food Inspectors and 31 Food Supervisors in the state to carry out the field duties. FDA has an independent drugs control laboratory with a capacity to test 6000 samples per year. Maharashtra claims as a state with the least incidence of spurious drugs. The state regulatory body has set up an intelligence branch to monitor and gather information on spurious and counterfeit drugs.
Rate of compliance to revised Good Manufacturing Practice norms is also encouraging compared with other states. More than 70 per cent of medium sized pharma firms are expected to comply with GMP norms, FDA officials believe.
Maharashtra State Chemists and Druggists Association (MSCDA) has become torch- bearer for the pharmaceutical trade in the country as it recently floated its first organised retailing company in Mumbai. Called Green Cross Healthcare Pvt Ltd, this corporatisation bid is seen an effort to equip the domestic retail trade to face the challenges of the post-GATT era which is marked with the competition MSCDA is one of the oldest trade organizations in the country. MSCDA has around 35,000 retailers spread across the 36 districts of the state." MSCDA, an affiliate of AIOCD, is unique in its respect with no parallel activity,'' reveals J S Shinde, Hon. General Secretary, All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), Mumbai.
Maharashtra levies a 4.5 per cent octroi for bulk drugs supplied in metros and big cities. There is no octroi charged for formulations. The sales tax for bulk drugs and formuations are 4 per cent and 9 per cent respectively. Companies like Blue Cross, Indoco, German Remedies (now part of Zydus Cadila), USV, Wockhardt, Cipla have expanded their bases into remote regions of Maharashtra like Patalganga, Kurkum, Taloja etc as these cities offered octroi free environs with a lot of tax sops.
Following its biotech policy in 2001, state government decided to set up a pharma biotech park at Hinjewadi in Pune with 136-acre area and an Agro biotech park at Jalna with 100-acre area.
In its a three-point strategy to boost biotech investments, the state government has announced the creation of a Maharashtra Biotech Board (MBB), Maharashtra Biotech Commission (MBC) and set Enshrined in the Maharashtra Biotech Policy include the tax sops for setting up biotech units in the state.
Some of the best centres of excellence in India are present in Maharashtra. The presence of the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) and Pune University which has one of the best bioinformatics programmes in the country, gives Pune a natural advantage of forming a successful bio-cluster in the state. In addition, Pune is home to 2 major bio-process companies, Alfa Laval and Praj Industries. Other companies that have enhanced this bio-cluster are Serum Institute (vaccines), Mahyco, Syngenta (GM crops), Wockhardt (Bio-therapeutics) and Advanced Bio-chemicals (enzymes).
On the flip side, exhorbitant labour costs and trade union unrest made many prospective companies shift their bases from the state in the recent years. However, things areimproving for the better, of late.
In an effort to lure back the potential investors the government of Maharashtra has come out with certain policy decisions and tax sops.Apart from the establishment of a biotech park in Pune to house a pilot plant facility for start-up companies to lease,the state government has also announced seed capital for biotech companies. The presence of a large pharma sector in the state is expected to generate interest in bio-therapeutics, diagnostics and veterinary products.