Close on the heels of the Karnataka Drug Manufacturers Association (KDMA) agreeing in principle to join the Federation of Southern India Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (FSIPMA), the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (OPM), based in Hyderabad, has agreed in principle to join the FSIPMA. The FSIPMA has been mooted by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Tamil Nadu (PMA) to bring together the various associations in the four southern states thus enabling to take up the regional difficulties along with those to be presented to the Centre. The PMA is to be the nodal point.

According to B.Sethuraman, Hon Secretary, PMA, the OPM would represent the manufacturers in Andhra Pradesh in the Federation.

The formal launch of the Federation is to be done on the 27th of this month in Chennai when all the associations, which have agreed in principle would be getting together. The other associations under the Federation are the Kerala Drug Manufacturers Association, North Kanara Drug Manufacturers Association, Karnataka Drug Manufacturers Association besides the PMA.

Sethuraman added that he would be holding discussions with the association in Goa to invite them to join the Federation.

The FSIPMA is the brainchild of the PMA, which is of the opinion that a Federation of the nature of FSIPMA would be handy to solve the regional problems of the members as well as represent matters to the Centre on a national plane. It must be mentioned in this context, the PMA had taken objection to the idea of forming a national body of small scale manufacturers mooted by the New Delhi based All India Small Scale Manufacturers Association claiming that the same would not be able to solve the regional problems threatening the pharmaceutical manufacturers. Instead, it mooted the idea of having four Federations representing the interests of manufacturers based in the northern, southern, eastern and western part of the country.