In order to ensure that the planning commission does not dump its proposed Pharmaceutical Technology Upgradation Assistance Scheme (PTUAS) just as  it did in the case of PTUF scheme earlier, the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has asked the industry to provide a list of at least 100 units each of SSIs and medium scale units interested in the PTUAS scheme, which is aimed to assist the industry to upgrade their units to WHO-GMP, US FDA, UK MHRA and other international norms.

According to sources, senior officials in the DoP have asked the major industry associations to prepare a list of at least 100 medium enterprises and SSIs in pharma sector in the country so that correct data and figures can be communicated to the planning commission for ensuring approval of the PTUAS scheme to support such units to become WHO GMP, US FDA, UK MHRA and other international standards compliant.

Though the DoP had submitted the PTUAS proposal to the planning commission way back in April last year, it is still stuck with the commission as the commission is not sure about the number of aspirants who are genuinely interested in this scheme. For the last more than one year, the commission has raised several questions regarding the scheme from the DoP, most importantly the number of interested units, but the DoP has not been able to convince the commission to get its final nod for the scheme.

As per initial plan of the DoP, the scheme was to come into effect from July 1, 2010 and the date was later postponed to January 1, 2011. But, the DoP is still waiting for the planning body's approval for the scheme will prove to be a boon to the units which are looking to upgrade their units to comply with WHO-GMP, US FDA and other international norms but are unable to do so due to financial constraints.

Under the proposed PTUAS scheme, the DoP will provide an interest subsidy of five per cent on loans availed for such purposes, amounting upto a project cost or loan amount of Rs. 10 crore.

The DoP's renewed efforts to save the PTUAS scheme come in the wake of its earlier experience on the PTUF scheme. The planning commission had earlier turned down the Rs. 560-cr PTUF scheme proposed by the DoP on the plea that since there is already a scheme, Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS), for the purpose of technology upgradation of small and medium industries, there is no need to launch another scheme for the same purpose.