Having established itself as a force to reckon with in the global pharmaceutical arena, India is now fast burgeoning as a prominent player in the global pharma machinery manufacturing market. The move can well be considered as a strategic step to make a mark in the whole gamut of pharma business.

Over the past few years the Indian pharma machines have rightly found a place in the good books of regulated and semi regulated countries by adhering to strict quality control measurements and adapting to automation and flexible robotic technology.

"The new product patent regime and increased proportion of Indian pharmaceutical exports to advanced markets have helped Indian pharma machinery manufacturers to better good manufacturing practices (GMP) and higher technological adaptation. Presently, pharma machineries manufactured by Indian companies are far better in quality and on an equal footing with international standards than it used to be 15 years ago," said an industry expert.

More over, apart from following the ISO 14000 and 9001 series of quality certification, the Indian machinery companies have started to stick to proper documentation and maintenance procedure, the parameters set by international buyers, the expert added.

As a result, the made in India pharma machineries, be it tableting, capsulation, powder processing, material handling, R&D equipment and instrumentation, coating and bulk drug plant installation, have successfully made their way into several of the FDA approved manufacturing facilities in USA, Australia, Africa etc. And obviously, the foreign and multinational pharma players are more than satisfied with the quality of Indian made machineries.

The part of progress achieved by the Indian machinery manufacturing sector could also be attributed to the technical tie-ups and joint ventures taking place in the industry. The current trends show that Indian companies are entering into technical tie-ups and joint ventures with USA, Europe and South East Asian companies to manufacture their products in India. "The rise in joint ventures between foreign and Indian companies underline the fact that India can make world-class products at affordable prices," said informed sources.

As per the statistics available, Indian pharmaceutical machinery manufacturing sector is generating an annual turnover of Rs 1,500 crore and growing at over 10 per cent per annum, constituting around 5 per cent of the global market in value terms. The increasing worldwide demand for pharma machineries is expected to further boost the performance of Indian pharmaceutical machinery manufacturing industry.