The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Bhavan, the new art-of-the-state five-storey building to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, was formally inaugurated by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee here on Monday.

The FDA Bhavan has been built by spending Rs 15 crore as part of the World Bank-supported capacity building project to strengthen the infrastructure of the drug control administration with latest facilities matching the corporate houses.

"Capacity building is the need of the hour. This capacity building process should also cover the private sector so that Indian companies can match the best in the global sector and snatch more exports. The drug regulator has to take up the role of a watchdog and facilitator at the same time," Mukherjee said while inaugurating the building.

He also called upon the companies to pay more attention on innovation in all sectors including new drug discovery, clinical trials and medical devices. Noting that India had a huge pool of scientists, he called for harnessing their potential and wanted a paradigm shift in the management systems.

Presiding over the function, Union health minister Ambumani Ramadoss said the new headquarters will be a technological and promotional building rather than remaining as just a regulatory office. "It is going to be the one stop office for all administrative purposes and will be transparent," he said. The minister, while listing the achievements and size of the pharma industry, said the WHO, USFDA and Health Canada were helping the country to improve the infrastructure facilities.

Three floors had been given to the DCGI in the building with enough facilities both for the administration and the visitors. Much ahead of the CDA formation, the DCGI has already set up separate and exclusive cells for different segments like exports, biotechnology, medical devices, pharmacovigilance, legal affairs, BE studies etc. It also boasts of library and conference halls. The CDSCO had already started working from the new office.