The 'Pharmaceutical Expo-2010' organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industries (FICCI) in association with the 62nd Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC) was inaugurated by Dr BR Shetty, managing director, Neopharma, Abu Dhabi. Leading pharma plant machinery and lab equipment manufacturers like Shimadzu, Waters and Millipore have made their presence by displaying their latest equipments at the Pharmaceutical Expo.



The exhibition with 150 stalls, spanned over an area of 6,000square metres, is expected to have 8,000 visitoRs.The mega event has visitors trickling in. However, the participants are of the view that it would be more of students. Going by the increasing number of pharmacy colleges and fewer job openings, pharmacy students are looking to be present in such events to chalk their future job prospects, according to a section of the industry..



There are also companies from the contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS). These include Biocon's subsidiary Syngene and Anglo French among otheRs.Ronald Mascarenhas, head, human resources, Syngene International said, “ the main intention for our participation is to help create a pool of fresh Pharmacy graduates and post graduates. Going by the challenge of accessing the right personnel, expos such as IPC which lure a large student population is a platform for planning our campus recruitment”, he added.



According to FICCI's Kamal Bharadwaj, assistant director, Trade Fairs, FICCI, the expo is expected to see a huge interest going by the displays of plant machinery and lab equipment. He said,”Going by the educational environment of the town Manipal which boasts of its centres of learning, we have received a good response and we hope to have around 5,000 business and general visitoRs.The Expo which was a hub for foreign participation has so far seen only representation from Korea and US”.



There are a couple of interesting exhibits for liquid dispensing. In the lab equipment front, Millipore is exhibiting the MilliQ, Snap IDand Sceptor. The novel Sceptor is a hand held cell counter is a product of the future. Waters' display includes Zevo TQS, besides balances and cartridges.



The pharmaceutical industry in India has been growing at the rate of 12-13 per cent and has garnered revenues to the tune of Rs.68,000 crore. To sustain this growths in the face of competition both domestic and international, it is required for the industry to keep update technology, source raw material at competitive rates and improve over all productivity. To this end, they do need to visit the exhibition and source their requirements appropriately, stated Bharadwaj.



Some of the big participating companies are Shimadzu, Millipore, CVC Technologies,Associated Capsules Group, Cadmach, Bectochem, Precision Gears, Pharmalab, Fabtech, Ambica Machine tools, Flow Control Industries.