The proposed Pharma Vision 2020, a project to make the country one of the top five global pharma innovation hubs by the year 2020, will have more emphasis on research and development especially in the fast growing biotechnology sector, said Ashok Kumar, secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals.

The white paper, submitted by the global consultancy agency - Mc Kinsey & Company - is designed to create more than 500,000 high value jobs for the youth providing the country with low cost healthcare for chronic and life threatening ailments like malaria and tuberculosis, Ashok Kumar said.

Delivering the keynote address in the pharma seminar, 'Pharmaceuticals 2014: Will India Leap Forward' organized by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in Mumbai, he said that the government is considering the project to be implemented in phased manner with investment of one to two billion US dollar with the support of the pharma industry.

The key components of the project would be to upgrade and enlarge specialized human resource to take the global research works and infrastructure development to meet the growing demands. The project also proposes to set up environment for drug discovery and to get into financial funding to manage the undertaken projects.

"We are looking for financial funding from private partners for completion of the project. Initially, the investments will be made by the government though the government participation will wafer off gradually and the pharmaceutical industry would come to take over the project," said Ashok Kumar.

The Jan Aushadhi, the government-led project to ensure accessibility of generic drugs at affordable prices by setting up generic drug stores across the country, is a promising one at present. The department has received 136 applications for supply of drugs and the officials are scrutinizing it, he added.

In the meeting which focused on the innovation in pharma and biotech sector in the country and the affordability of medicines, Mc Kinsey has presented its suggestions for the pharmaceutical companies to get over from the recession problems. The companies can take various models to face recession and should have long term plans to sustain at the tough times, said Dr Ajay Dhankhar, partner, McKinsey & Company Inc, in his presentation on the business prospects of Indian and global pharmaceutical companies.

Graham Lewis, vice president - Europe, IMS Health, UK explained the market strategies which would be apt for the Indian companies to reach a higher growth in 2014. Glenn Saldanha, chairman, national pharmaceuticals committee of FICCI and managing director and CEO of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals delivered the welcome speech while Prof Falguni Sen, advisor (Healthcare), ORF & Professor of Management, Fordham University, USA presented the concluding remarks and vote of thanks.

The two-day seminar is designed to discuss on various issues related to the quality and affordability of the pharmaceutical products including the patent barriers and issues along with the emerging opportunities in biopharmaceutical sector.