Faced with the prospect of a bleak future in view of an 'unfavourable' response to its demands from the government, the Confederation of Indian Pharmaceutical Industries (a body of above 6000 small scale pharma companies) has given a clarion call to its members to "come together or perish".

"In the changed circumstances, individual existence has become well nigh impossible for the small pharma companies. There is no option but to unite or perish. The small-scale companies have to re-organize themselves for survival. There should be some joint marketing and joint manufacturing among the members," CIPI chairman TS Jaishankar said.

With the noose tightening around their neck due to various factors including government's indifferent attitude towards their 'just' demands and other factors like the implementation of revised Schedule-M, thousands of small scale pharma companies in the country have been looking up to the Finance Minister to deliver the much needed assistance in the form of duty reduction in his budget.

As that hope has also been dashed, the CIPI has asked its members to come together or get ready to perish. The CIPI has circulated a notice among its members asking them to come out with some plans to work together as a team as individual survival is getting more and more difficult. The organization is proposing a joint marketing and joint manufacturing strategy for the small scale pharma companies in the common interest. The organization will appoint a consultant in this regard soon. A detailed plan of action will be prepared by the CIPI for which the organization has called a meeting of its members on March 25 in Delhi.

Jaishankar said, there is future for the small pharma companies if they join hands to work like a cluster. The silver lining is that the pharma industry is booming with an internal market of Rs 35000 crore, which is expected to double by 2010-12.

The CIPI chairman said, the initial response of its members towards the proposal is not that much encouraging as they are not able to digest the idea of working together. There are several issues that have to be thrashed out, he said.