The 58th Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC), to be held in Mumbai from 1-3, December 2006, will set tone for the growth of Indian pharmaceutical industry for the next 15 years.

The Local Organizing Committee (LoC) of IPC has charted out a 'Vision 2020' document to realize the goals and to catapult the industry to face the challenges and requirements of the projected growth by 2020 or 2025. The ten-point vision document, which will be deliberated at the IPC in detail, will be presented to all the stakeholders and policy decision makers for further action. The IPA and other industry associations will follow up to implement the recom-mendations of Vision 2020, according to the organisers.

"There are various projections and predictions like $ 20 billion or $ 30 billion as the size of the Indian industry by 2010 or 2015 or 2020. But these experts are silent on how to achieve this target. Actually we have to do a realistic assessment of the industry, its strengths and areas of growth and then devise strategies that are helpful to achieve this target. The Vision 2020 document will be a blue-print for overall growth considering all the various segments of the industry that requires improvement/ special attention to realize these targets" notes Dr.B.Suresh, president of Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association (IPCA) and president, Pharmacy Council of India (PCI)