The Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd (IMPCL) – the only public service undertaking under the central government manufacturing Indian Systems of Medicines (ISM) – is all set to foray into the exports market along with plans to expand its operations to production of Siddha system of medicine.

The IMPCL, under the aegis of Department of Ayush at Mohan, Uttarakhand, is keenly following an option to start exports of its products to countries like Australia, Mauritius and Kazakhstan, which has expressed their interest to import the ISM products from the company, said Brig(Retd) V A M Hussain, managing director, IMPCL.

“We have received inquiries from these countries for supply of our products. We are in the process of confirming standard of our facilities as against their regulatory system. We will start exports as soon as possible,” said Hussain. The IMPCL is on a revival path, for which the Department of Ayush is contemplating to collect the best options for revamp. The upgradation of production facilities would help the company to bag more export orders in future, he added.

The company currently with a paid up capital of Rs 7 crore is expecting a boost up the equity to almost Rs 50 crore, for which the Department has agreed sanction in principle. The expected capital would help the company to expand its activities both for the domestic and exports market.

Meanwhile, the company in an effort to expand its product portfolio from the existing Ayurveda and Unani medicines to Siddha medicines through innovative products. The company is working on a Siddha medicine to supplement care for accident patients in collaboration with the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh, one of the laboratories of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), New Delhi.

The IMPCL is also conducting collaborative research with the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, a national level research laboratory located in Hyderabad, India under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (ICMR), to standardise some of the Siddha medicines for better acceptance in modern world.

At present, the company has 195 Ayurvedic products and 75 Unani medicines in its kitty. It is also one of the largest suppliers of Central Government Health Scheme for ISM products. The foray into exports, expansion of product portfolio and the upgradation programme for revival of the facilities would help the company to become one of the major ISM drug manufacturing units in the country, averred Hussain.

As reported earlier, the department has called for bid from experienced consultancy firms to study the industry and the IMPCL records and prepare a roadmap for revamping the company with a long term view. The aim is to prepare and follow a road map for next five years for product diversification, modernisation for compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) approved by World Health Organisation, evolve suitable marketing strategy for increasing market share both in respect of sale to government agencies and in the open market including exports.