The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has launched a major initiative to set up 50 state of the art drug testing laboratories across the country within three years. While 20 of them are to be entirely new facilities, rest would come up through renovation and modernisation of existing laboratories.

Revealing this drug policy initiative, Rita Teaotia, joint secretary, Ministry of Health, said that civil works have already started in the case of 13 laboratories and five others would begin in next three months. The drug testing laboratories are coming up as part of the World Bank funded Capacity Building Project being carried out by the health ministry. The project has been termed as the first step in realizing the goal of safe and quality controlled food and drugs for the Indian public. Under the project, estimated to cost about Rs 355 crore laboratories at the State and the Central level would be strengthened, training of personnel will be undertaken and new equipment which will test harmful residues in food and drugs will be purchased.

"All the 50 laboratories that are coming up in the country are to be NABL accredited. With the new laboratory facilities, the drug regulatory authority will be able to test thrice the number of drug samples in a year within a much lesser time," Teaotia said. With the upgraded capacity and the new laboratories, it is expected that about one lakh samples of drugs would be tested for safety and quality per year.

As part of the project, the ministry had on March 24, 2005 laid the foundation stone for Food and Drug Administration Bhawan in New Delhi. Of the total cost of about Rs 355 crore, the World Bank is providing more than Rs 236 crore. The building itself is to cost Rs 11.74 crore. .

The Food and Drug Administration Bhawan will house the offices of Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) and the Food Division of DGHS, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The FDA Bhawan would ensure better interface of Drug and Food Authorities with the public and other stakeholders.