The Indian pharmaceutical machinery industry which has made a tremendous progress in the last two decades is poised to grow at a much faster pace if the Government heeds to the genuine pleas of the industry according to Rattan Singhania, Vice President , Indian Pharma Machinery Manufacturers Association(IPMMA).
IPMMA has already requested the ministry of commerce and industry for inclusion of pharmaceutical machinery in the list of products in connection with the ongoing preferential trade agreement with MECOSUR(A trade block of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay & Uruguay to provide import tariff concession to given by the lead country Brazil).The association has received a very positive reply from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, he said
The association has also made a representation to the ministry for lifting the trade embargo with Pakistan as this could open gates for a lucrative market, he said. Pakistan pharmaceutical industry comprises 20 multinational and 323 national companies which produce medicines worth US $ 800 million per annum and market size for the pharmaceutical machinery in Pakistan is around US $ 12-15 million.
It has also identified various difficulties faced by the members relating to Central excise, Sales tax, Service tax, import-export duties and these have been put forward to the concerned authorities for clarification, said Singhania.
IPMMA is now planning to launch a newsletter in order to maintain continuous communication and sharing information with the members. The editorial board of this newsletter is also working out ways and means to have arrangement with the industry experts and some international publishing houses to provide information on latest technological trends and share articles from such publications. The newsletter will also have regular columns on trade, technology, market research, import-export details, interviews with famous personalities from the industry, technical write ups from the member companies etc , he said.
It has launched its official website (www.IPMMA.org) with the aim to have an international presence. The website is quite informative such as, an industry overview, techno-commercial write-ups. It also consists the Web Server based Search Engine to search the IPMMA Registered Member Organizations. The website will be a internationally accessed web platform for instant access of the information about the association, he added.
The association also gets regular updates from Ficci, ITPO, EEPC, CII, IDMA, BDMA and this information is being be communicated to the member companies on a periodic basis, he pointed out
IPMMA is committed towards achieving common goals whereby the benefit will go to all the association members. The association is putting in efforts to study the manufacturing, designing, marketing and banking skills that are required by the industry and try to help small members to grow alongwith with the growth of the pharmaceutical industry. The association is also co-ordinating with several agencies, component suppliers etc. to provide the necessary knowledge under a single roof that would help both the supplier as well the industry to cut costs and save time .
IPMMA has already organized two seminars to share the knowledge on the latest trends prevailing in the pharmaceutical industry globally.
The one day seminar on Schedule M organized on July 12, 2003 at Hotel Tunga International, Mumbai.was conducted in order to create awareness about Schedule-M was attended by more than 100 people.The key speaker Mr. S. S. Lamba, a Senior General Manager from Lupin Laboratories Ltd.
Similarly a seminar on “International regulatory compliance :Role of Pharma Machinery” was organized on February 28, 2004 at Hotel Kohinoor continental, Mumbai. The key speaker was Dr. P. G. Shrotriya, the technical director from M. J. Biopharm Pvt. Ltd.There was also a special session on cGMP compliance for the pharma machinery, particularly in the areas of non-sterile and sterile product manufacturing.
IPMMA was founded on December 23, 2001 at New Delhi and was registered as a trade association to represent specifically the Indian pharmaceutical machinery manufacturers. The estimated business revenue from this sector which includes processing, packaging, utility equipments and other ancillary products is around Rs.1,500 crores out which Rs.200 crores account for exports.
The aims & objectives of IPMMA are :
To work towards the benefit of all the manufacturers of pharma machinery
● To particularly give encouragement and recognition to small scale machinery manufacturers
● To get recognized by national and international associations related to pharma industry
● To get recognized at the central government offices situated in New Delhi
● To ensure maintenance of fair business practices in the pharmaceutical industry
● To encourage unity and provide mutual help within the members
● To organize meetings / seminars / conferences / exhibitions / trade fairs as required by the members
Today, IPMMA has already enrolled 260 members and the association has been recognized by several government, semi-government and trade councils. As these members already export their products to 80 different countries spread across five continents ,the association would put efforts to help other non-exporting members to find business inroads into these countries , said Singhania.