National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has launched a comprehensive door-to-door census of pharmaceutical manufacturing units in the country to assess its working and capacity including GMP compliance, with a view to develop a robust database to help policymakers and other stakeholders.

Union Chemicals Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, at a function here on Thursday, formally announced the commencement of the census which would be completed next financial year.

Titled, First Pharmaceutical Industry Census and being held along with the fourth All India Census of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, it would help prepare a pharmaceutical map of India, illuminating all those districts of the country having manufacturing units, NPPA chairman Ashok Kumar said.

It would cover the investment in plant and machinery by the units according to the class (micro, small, medium and large) at disaggregated levels of administrative set-ups in State and districts-wise. The NPPA is planning to cover over 10,000 units to develop a robust and interactive database of allopathic units.

Besides the investments, it would also list the turnovers, classification of own and loan licencees, employment generation, pattern of research and development, GMP compliance and production and use of scheduled bulk drugs and formulations.

The data would be collected by enumerators by door-to-door survey with structured questionnaire. However, the survey would not cover the Indian systems of medicines. NPPA chairman said the data would be useful for the policy makers and other stakeholders alike. It would be circulated for the benefit of all concerned.