The four major pharmaceutical industry associations, Indian drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA), Bulk Drug Manufacturers Association (BDMA), Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) and Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) will contribute Rs.2.5 lakh each towards the working capital requirement of the soon-to-be launched Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil).

The council, which is expected to begin operation by April first week, would have 2000 members. Majority of the members are existing members of Basic Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics Export Promotion Council (Chemexcil).

Talking to Pharmabiz, DB Mody, the designated chairman, Pharmexcil said that since admission fee for the existing Chemexcil members have been waived off, the new council will be able to generate the subscription fee and the admission fee from only the new members. Hence the industry associations were voluntarily coming forward to offer a contribution towards the working capital.

As the stipulated corpus of Rs.3 crore and the office premises for the council's head office have been granted by government of Andhra Pradesh already, the Rs.10 lakh coming from the industry associations and the subscription would be adequate for the working capital, Mody said.

The registered office of the council, which is to be located in Mumbai, would be started at the Food and Drug Administration premises at Bandra-Kurla complex. The formal clearance for granting this premise to Pharmexcil from the government of Maharashtra is expected shortly.

The chairman also said that the day-to-day operations of the council will be looked after by a chief executive officer (CEO), who would be appointed soon. Pharmexcil is likely to open offices at other major pharma centers like Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chennai also later is anticipating at least two foreign chapters to serve the Indian exporters.