Issues have to be sorted out expeditiously

The Government of India move to create excise free zones in the two hilly states of Himachal and Uttarakhand was to create opportunities for the youth of these regions to get employment which will give a boost to the economies of these states.

The attraction of excise free zone lured many entrepreneurs to these areas and they started establishing units in these regions. The industrialists expected uninterpreted support from the state governments. But unfortunately it has not happened and Government started interfering in many areas, such as increase in the minimum wages to the employees, increase in the ST/VAT etc. With increase in the power tariff, problems of pollution and red-tapism, by the time excise free tenure was over , industrialists, mainly MSME segments got exhausted which resulted in closure of many units. While some has already taken place , some of them are in the pipeline to close and some of them are available for sale.

There has to be continuity in the incentives offered to industrialists who have dislocated themselves from their native states and shifting business to far flung areas. Such schemes should be extended from time to time so that their interest remain in these regions and they keep on further investing in their ventures by which more employment opportunities can be generated and more revenue can be added to the state exchequer.

Pharma industry at various forums has been requesting state as well as central governments to extend the date of excise free schemes but in vain. The existing extension of incentive of capital subsidy or freight subsidy announced by the Government of India recently is a drop in ocean because hardly any company will be benefited by this. The purpose of extending this scheme at this juncture is just a political ploy in the election year. If the Government is serious to support the industry, they should come with an original scheme of incentives with extension by which industry not only gets capital subsidy, they also get excise free material ,which finally will be in the overall interest of the consumer . The benefit of Income Tax should also be extended so that entrepreneurs remain here and keep on investing in future too.

Already the industry is under tremendous pressure because of regulatory angle.

Initially it was just GMP, subsequently, Scheme M was made applicable, later Schedule L was introduced and now GDP is also being discussed. Fixed dosage combinations, which have been in the market for ages without any adverse affect on any of the patients, is being withdrawn.

Baning pet bottles as well as banning of some of the products without going into scientific background is also a major cause for concern for the industry. Controlled release products are being classified as New Drug. While New Drug Policy is another blow to the industry, now Govt is going to make Schedule M on par with WHO-GMP.

Creation of CDA would have been another problem but for the time being the same is kept on hold.

Finally for each and every thing the industry has to knock the door of the court of law resulting in losing valuable time and money. These type of indirect pressures demoralize the new generation entrepreneurs. Industry has to be supported by the govt as a facilitator and not as a regulator.

Pharma industry is a life science and it cannot be compared to a commodity.It needs a lot of innovation, lot of R&D and it is an on going process for the industry to keep on innovating.

In order to showcase India's potential globally, industry is committed to resolve the challenges confronting the Indian pharma industry to become the preferred supplier of safe, efficacious and quality generics globally.

Pharma industry is facing numerous challenges.Whenever the Government constitutes expert panels for revision of any policies , only experts from Government institutions are included and the industry experts are totally ignored. Since the industry is flooded with technical people having expertise in various fields, their opinion should also be taken into consideration.Government should discuss the industry issues with the stake-holders in a positive atmosphere and then take a decision.

Today more than 54 per cent population of the nation is the youth. These youngsters are looking towards industry for employment and if they do not get job or opportunity at the appropriate time , their attention will get diverted which can even increase crime rates. Therefore, youth needs government and industry support at this crucial juncture otherwise their energy, which can be utilized for nation -building will go waste. It is high time that Government and industry sit together and resolve the issues in the interest of the nation as a whole. "Nation first and everything second" should be the motto of all of us.