The small scale manufacturers in the country have committed to the Pharmaceutical Department to ensure adequate supply of unbranded generic drugs to run the proposed generic drug stores, being planned in each district, to make medicines affordable for the poor sections of the society.

However, the large scale pharmaceutical players have asked for more time to take a final call on the proposal made by the government. The first meeting by the department with the representatives of the industry held on September 12 also formed a joint forum of the government and industry nominees to further work out the entire modalities including the prices of generic-generic drugs, sources said.

SME Pharma Industries Confederation (SPIC) and CIPI, representing the small and medium players at the meeting welcomed the initiative by the government and gave their commitment to ensure adequate supply of drugs at a lower price. The big players represented at the meeting by IDMA, IPA and OPPI asked for more time to decide on the matter. Besides the senior government officials, the meeting was also attended by experts like Dr Y K Gupta, Dr Naresh Gupta, representatives of public sector pharma units and associations like FOPE.

The first of the store is likely to come up in Delhi. The joint forum, comprising the representatives who attended the meeting, will now work out the entire modalities of the scheme including the prices, list of drugs and phases of implementation. The next meeting in this regard will be held on September 12, sources said.

"We are committed to make it a success. We have already asked our members to forward the list of generic-generic drugs to be supplied and their prices so that we can present them to the Government," SPIC vice-chairman Lalit Kumar Jain said.

The pharma department has proposed over 300 drugs to be sold through the generic stores, to be run with the help of charity organizations and NGOs within the government hospitals and outside. The public sector pharma units will supply 25 per cent of the drugs while the rest would be sourced from the private sector at lower prices to help the poor. Centre, State and private sector will be the three partners for the scheme.