Reactions from pharma industry leaders and analysts from various states show that the pharma sector is very much disappointed on the Union Budget presented by the finance minister Arun Jaitely in Parliament on February 1. The industry associations said pharma sector was hoping for some good tidings for it from the government, but received no relief for the industry.

Reacting on the budget with severer displeasure, the president of the Bihar Drugs & Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (BDPMA), Sanjiv Rai said, “Taking note of the prevailing situation in Bihar, we are very much disappointed with the budget presented by the union finance minister Arun Jaitely on last Wednesday in the Parliament. We were hoping so much for the pharma sector, especially for the industry in Bihar, but nothing has been taken care of”.

He said BDPMA had wanted special status for Bihar pharma industry in the budget, but it did not happen. The pharma sector in the state was expecting specific priorities for the MSME units operating there. All the 150 manufacturing units are small scale units and they need much attention and support from the government. The Union Budget was the only hope, but nothing has been given, he said.

The president of BDPMA has pointed out that the budget gives no consideration for ‘cut in interest rates’ for MSME units against bank loans. Although, a cut in income tax rates of 5% has been announced for the companies with a turnover upto Rs.50 crore, this will stand impractical unless the government encourages and provides support to the units to achieve the target, he said.

J Jayaseelan, chairman of Tamil Nadu drug manufacturers association (TN IDMA), the budget does not contain any specific benefits for pharma. “We expected of the government to announce a project of one Pharma Park for bulk drugs industry for the state since we are depending on China for our API requirements. Other than a tax advantage for the MSME units with turnover less than Rs.50 crore, nothing is there to cherish for the pharma industry of Tamil Nadu”, he said.

Sasikant Misra, an independent management consultant for pharma sector based in Pune said, “overall the budget is not so good for the pharmaceutical sector which has been lobbying for so long for adequate support from the government to overcome its present challenges and get the recognition of a sector to watch out for in the future. Some of the positive steps announced by the government for the sector would be to amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules,1945 to lower prices and promote the use of the generic products. New rules for regulating the medical devices industry are also a good step which would invite investment into this promising sector and also would be able to address the key issue of affordability”.

He has commented that although pharma being one of the focused sector contributing significantly to the country’s overall exports as always has been not given adequate attention in the union budget, 2017. The decision to scrap FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) which is a kind of a regulator for the pharma industry M&As would also have an impact on the sector.

The president of Tamil Nadu Chemists & Druggists Association (TNCDA), Mannargudi Ramachandran, said the government’s move to introduce FDI in pharma sector would destroy the Indian pharma industry and the drug trades. He said the union government is slowly trying to handover the Indian pharma industry to the multi-nationals.

Purushothaman Nampoothiri, president of Kerala Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (KPMA) said this budget gives no benefit to pharma industry in the country.