North India came to limelight a decade ago because of the Government announcement of excise free zones mainly in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu areas. Ever since this scheme was announced, there have been positive as well as negative developments for the pharmaceutical industry.
While the youth of these states got the jobs and the state government got revenue , the industry has been affected because of the changes brought about by state and central government from time to time. SME segment is bleeding because of various changes being brought for upgradation of plants etc by way of investment on Scheme M compliance, Schedule L compliance etc resulting in huge investment. However some of the organized units got settled which could provide ample opportunities for pharma students to get absorbed in such units.
It is the right time that IPC i.e. Indian Pharmaceutical Congress is planned in the National Capital Region. North has become the centre of attraction as far as pharma industry is concerned. Moreover the entire Government of India, bureaucracy , technocrats, legislative as well as judiciary are situated in the capital of India. i.e. Delhi. Coming from various walks of life students participating in IPC will be able to show case their caliber by submitting their technical papers in various seminars, workshops, interactive sessions which will give them a chance to get absorbed in various units of North India.
Secondly, machinery manufacturers are also going to display to showcase their latest version of new machinery, their technology, their strength. While the industry will be able to see the same from commercial point of view, students coming from various parts of the country will be able to benefit from the academic point of view. The thickly populated states like UP, Bihar, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh also come in North with the result it is the right and correct decision on the part of the IPC to choose the venue as North this year for this great event.
With the potential of the generic drugs, the contract manufacturers have a great future and north India is known for its potential for contract manufacturing facilities. It is a known fact that majority of the contract manufacturing even for domestic industry is being done in North India as large number of small and medium pharma units are doing this work for quite some time and the IPC in North India will give a mileage to academic fraternity, industry and students as a whole will have synergy to co-ordinate with each other to avail the benefit of this event.
It is a well known fact that Delhi has been a pioneer of Indian pharma industry in the early days and during its peak time, the National Capital Region like Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Noida , Faridabad etc. had over 2000 units. Although some of the units got closed due to Schedule M compliance and due to shifting of some of the units to HP and Uttarakhand ,with the event like IPC will boost the morale of old time industrialists to reconsider reviving their units in their own localities as the excise free zone is no more a favored place as its attraction has virtually disappeared.
As the regulatory machinery is concentrated in Delhi, there is every possibility that regulators will participate in the event in a big way. Had this event been somewhere else, the participation of regulatory agency would have been limited. But being Delhi the venue, their involvement is going to be full and whole hearted.
North has demographic and geographic strength advantage too. The sheen which North India was losing because of attraction of excise benefit is over. However it can regain it's position if such events are conducted from time to time which will boost the morale of the industry.
The other reasons why IPC is going to be a great success in North India is the conducive climatic conditions. The weather of December, when it is chilly and wind touches the heart of the people, nature shows its youthfulness by way of flowers, greenery etc. Moreover, hospitality of North is also well known in India. IPC event presents a mixed bag of students, academicians , industry and regulators.
It is hoped that Delhi and nearby places, which were leading hubs of the pharmaceutical industry, mostly led by small scale and medium players, will get a booster shot with events like IPC and will help the industry to flourish again.
(The author is Chairman, Finance Committee, IPC. He holds several positions like Vice President, Bulk Drugs Manufacturers Association,Co Chairman, FOPE, President,Pharma Indenting Agent Association, Vice Chairman, CIPI, Chief Advisor, Himachal Drugs Manufacturers Association. He is also Director of ABS Mercantiles Pvt Ltd, Director of Auronext Pharma Ltd and the Director of Next Wave.)