With view to give a boost to exports from Gujarat and to meet the stakeholders requirements in the state, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) recently upgraded and declared its Gujarat sub zonal office located at the airport, air cargo complex Ahmedabad into a zonal level office. The new office was inaugurated by the drug controller general of India (DCGI), Dr G N Singh on April 12, with an aim to provide better services to the stakeholders in the state.

With this upgradation all the problems faced by the stakeholders from Gujarat will now be directly addressed at the newly created zonal office. Earlier the exporters had to travel all the way to Mumbai to get major work done which was a time consuming affair for an exporter. Dr Singh stressed that as a regulator all steps will be taken by his office to ensure that they will act as a facilitator to help all the stakeholders across the country.

“It is very important that all the demands of the industry is addressed accordingly so that it will help in propelling the growth of the industry. Similarly we also expect and request the stakeholders to understand the significance of following the drug regulatory system of the country so that as a regulator we will be able to service the industry in a better way,” Dr Singh added.

The zonal office in Gujarat will be headed by Dr A Ramkishan as the assistant drugs controller (ADC) India with responsibilities to handle import, export, central licence approving authority (CLAA) activities along with World Health Organisation (WHO)-Good manufacturing practice (GMP) certificate scheme in the state of Gujarat.

The upgraded zonal office is around 2500 square feet other than the existing office space which was recently approved by the ministry of health and family welfare. This office consist of dedicated area for inspectorate staff, technical staff, ADCI and DDCI with well furnished conference room including archival area.

Dr A Ramkishan informed that the additional space was provided by the Gujarat State Export Corporation which will help in catering to the needs of the pharma companies in Gujarat. He added, “Over the years we have seen a tremendous increase in the exports of pharma products from Gujarat which triggered us to take this progressive step. We are very happy with this development as it will further help us in assisting the industry in meeting their demand more effectively. Apart from upgrading the present facility that was established in 2002 as sub zonal office we have also taken steps to increase our manpower substantially with competent work force to meet the work pressure.”

Dr Ramkishan further informed that at present there are around 10 people working at the zonal office and steps are being taken to increase the work force shortly with ten more people for the better functioning of the office.

According to the data provided by the zonal office when the sub zonal office was started in 2002, the exports from the state was around Rs.83 crore in July 2002, whereas, as per the statistics of 2011, the exports had jumped to Rs.2322 crore.