Dr Ashes Ganguly, Director, Cryogen Instruments India Pvt Ltd, is the Founder Secretary of Indian Analytical Instruments Association (IAIA). The 100-member association was formed in 1996, and is the only association in the country representing analytical manufacturers.

In an interview to Chronicle Pharmabiz, Dr Ganguly spoke on the recent trends in the analytical instrumentation (AI) market in the country. Excerpts:

Can you comment on the current advancements in the field of analytical instruments ?

With the advancement in technology, more sophisticated instruments to check impurities at a nano level have come into the market. The impurity estimation today is generally done at a parts per billion level (PPB) compared to parts per million (PPM). As a result, analytical scientists today are keen to know how impure the sample is rather than how pure it is.

How are the Indian companies adapting to international Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) requirements? What is your opinion on small and medium manufacturers?

Today, more importance is given to current GLP or cGLP, requirements are updated with every advancement in technology and its practices. As the pharmaceutical market is becoming more export oriented and more companies are adding to the list of exporters to the advanced markets of US and Europe, Indian companies are naturally ensuring cGLP standards in their labs. Any negligence on their front will jeopardise their export contracts. Therefore all well-known pharma exporting companies are cGLP compliant. Also FDA audits are essential.

Small and medium enterprises having a reasonable exposure to advanced markets adapt GLP. I feel the upcoming companies should focus on developing niche products rather than producing too many common products. This will ensure growth with a better GLP adoption. Harmonizationis also important.

What is the size of the Indian analytical instruments (AI) market? What is the import-export ratio?

The market is worth Rs 2,500 crore and is growing at the rate of 10 per cent per annum. Of this about 25 per cent is domestically manufactured and the rest is imported. All the high-end instruments are imported, where as the low-end basic instruments and components are manufactured domestically.

How fast the Indian industry is catching up with latest innovations in the field?

All well-known research oriented pharma companies in the country are fully aware of the latest upgradation in the field of AI. The awareness quotient is minimum among small and medium enterprises having lesser exposure to research. Perhaps they may not be requiring such awareness at the moment, however, these companies will have to aware and equip themselves with the latest trends in the field as they grow up.

It is a circle where the more you associate with the latest technology, the more you grow and the more you grow, the more you upgrade.

What is the duty structure prevailing for the AI imports?

An importer has to pay in general a duty of 23-25% on imports. There are various concessions under the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) norms. Major governmental research institutions like DAE, CSIR, DRDO can import these instruments paying a duty of 0-5 %.

Considering India being a low cost at the same time high quality centre for manufacturing and engineering, can you see foreign AI makers outsourcing their requirements in future?

I do not see anyone outsourcing from India in the immediate future. Later, it might become a sourcing hub for low end products and components.