The Rs.441 crore plan for the revival of Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd is set to commence now after several years of inaction. The Department of Pharmaceuticals is drafting a cabinet note in this regard to submit to the Union cabinet. The proposal has been pending with the Department since 2007. In the revival proposal, provisions for upgradation of manufacturing facilities conforming to WHO-GMP have been already incorporated. With this, IDPL should be able to effectively compete with the major pharmaceutical companies in private sector in respect of quality and safety of medicines it makes. IDPL is one of the four public sector pharma units in the country which was declared sick way back in 1992 by the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction. The revival package was formulated and approved by BIFR in February 1994. The Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises then recommended the present scheme for approval of the government. Though the package went to the Cabinet in 2007 and a GoM was constituted under A K Antony, it could not clear it before the elections in 2009. Now, IDPL has started wiping out the  losses it has been incurring over the years. The company generated a net profit of Rs.3.9 crore during 2009-10 as per the latest estimates. It had an accumulated loss of Rs.335.58 crore in 2007, when the revival package was mooted.

IDPL and Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd are the two public sector undertakings which had played a key role in the development of Indian pharmaceutical industry but turned sick over the years on account of the negligence of the ministers who took charge of the chemicals ministry. The latest victims of this neglect were the century old three vaccine producing units owned by the Central government. The minister in charge ordered their closure in early 2009 allowing private vaccine manufacturers a free run. However, the government decided to reverse the decision and reopen the vaccine units last February. The change in the approach of the government comes in the wake of the recent acquisitions of some of the country’s top  pharmaceutical companies by the MNCs and the fear that they might dominate the domestic market soon. The Union health minister of the country has expressed serious concern over these developments and already held some consultations with the industry captains. Steadily rising prices of essential and life saving drugs after the adoption of the new patent regime in 2005 is another serious issue disturbing the government and health care experts. The policy of price control is in a mess today with most of the drugs marketed in the country remaining outside price control. The revival of IDPL and other PSUs and the decision to set up a string of generic stores by the Department of Pharmaceuticals are two critical steps which can arrest the spiraling prices of essential drugs until the proposed new pharmaceutical policy is notified.