The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) is formulating a scheme for technology upgradation of the pharmaceutical companies in the small scale sector as part of the government initiative for quality improvement in drugs production, according to Dr V K Subburaju, secretary of DoP.

The government will provide financial assistance under this scheme to the manufacturing firms through financial institutions. The department will introduce the project with an initial outlay of Rs.500 crore, he said while inaugurating the second edition of ‘Pharmac South’, in Chennai, a trade exhibition by pharma companies in the southern states.

According to him, currently India produces drugs worth Rs.2 lakhs crore every year, and fifty per cent of them is consumed domestically and the remaining fifty per cent is exported to foreign countries. However, the country’s contribution to world export market share is only 2.5 per cent. The government wants to increase the figure to 25 per cent in the next ten years. For this, the quality of the products has to be improved.

“We cannot compromise on quality aspects. All the manufacturing companies in the country need to increase the quality of their products; or else, we cannot attain the export growth. Indian drugs are popular in foreign countries and having high demands. If we improve the quality, we can increase the exports. With this aim, DoP is now engaged in sensitising the manufacturing companies to upgrade their technologies,” he said.

Later while briefing the media, Sudhamsu Pant, joint secretary of DoP said the department is organising 12 training programmes/workshops for small and medium scale pharma companies to upgrade their GMP standards. The first one was conducted in Chennai last month and the second workshop will be conducted for the manufacturers of West Bengal in Kolkata in July last week. The pharmaceutical companies in Madhya Pradesh will assemble for the workshop in August at Indore. Afterwards, manufacturers of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Goa and from other north Indian states will be trained in the successive workshops.

While speaking to Pharmabiz, Dr Subburaju said the government is formulating some other projects for increasing the production of medical equipment and devices. India is presently importing 70 per cent of the total requirement of medical devices. Only thirty per cent is produced here. The country needs to increase the manufacturing potential of medical devices industry.

Along with the opening of the exhibition, a regional office of the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) was also inaugurated in Chennai to support the pharma companies in the south to export their products. The inauguration was done by Ashuthosh Gupta, president of the Council. Dr. P.V Appaji, director general of Pharmexcil was also present on the occasion.

While delivering the special address at the inaugural ceremony, the president of the Indian Drugs Manufacturers Association, S V Veerramani, said the Pharmac South 2015 exhibition is meant for demonstrating the manufacturing capability of the pharmaceutical companies in the southern states. The show will facilitate the contract manufacturers from across India and other neighbouring countries to reach an agreement with the manufacturers from six southern states.

The chairman of the organising committee, M Rajaratinam, said about one hundred manufacturing units are showcasing their innovative products in the exhibition.