Pharmaceutical industry, which is growing increasingly bored of the Union Budget as a source of inspiration, has once again drawn a blank as Finance Minister P Chidambaram chose to present largely a lacklustre budget for 2013-14.
However, in line with the 'inclusive growth' agenda of the present Government, health sector got a higher allocation as Chidambaram reiterated that 'health for all and education to all remains priority'.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been allocated Rs.37,330 crore. Of this, the new National Health Mission (NHM) that combines the rural mission and the proposed urban mission will get Rs.21,239 crore - an increase of 24.3 per cent over the revised estimates last year, as per the budget which aimed at 'higher growth leading to inclusive and sustainable development'.
The only mention by the Finance Minister to the entire industry pharma industry, including Indian medicines, for the good was about the abatement of 35 per cent to the medicaments of Indian branches of medicines.
“To reduce valuation disputes with regard to branded medicaments of Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy and Bio-Chemic systems of medicine, it is proposed to use the MRP based assessment. An abatement of 35 per cent will be provided to such branded medicaments,” he said.
Out of the total allocation for the health sector, Rs.4,727 crore would be spent for medical education, training and research. Rs.150 crore provided for National Programme for the Health Care of Elderly. The budget also promised to mainstream Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy while giving Rs.1,069 crore to Department of Ayush as allocation. An amount of Rs.1,650 crore has been allocated for six AIIMS-like institutions which are now under construction.
Some pharma associations like Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance have refused to submit the usual wish-lists to the Finance Ministry in last couple of years, as they felt that budgets had were not giving any incentives to the pharma industry in the recent years.
But some other associations, though with little hopes, had made demands for cutting in excise duty on active ingredients, increased weighted average reduction for research and development (R&D), extension of tax holidays for hospitals, exemption of physician samples from central excise duty, and reduction of customs duty on life-saving drugs, diagnostic equipments and consumables thereof and medical devices.