In sync with the Make in India mission of the Union government, the department of pharmaceuticals (DoP) is now working to create a conducive environment along with a slew of polices and regulations to reinstate the confidence of global investors and buoy up revenue inflows into drug research and manufacture.

The government will liberalise policies to make the pharma sector more market oriented, increase exports opportunities for small and medium drug manufacturers by enabling compliance to WHO GMP standards with specific funding mechanism. It will accelerate interactions between industry and government to discuss weakness and challenges for making the pharma sector more dynamic, said Dr VK Subburaj, secretary, department of pharmaceuticals who was in Bengaluru.

As clarion call, it has teamed up with FICCI to host an international exhibition and conference on pharmaceutical industry. Titled as India Pharma 2016 and Indian Medical Device Expo 2016, the event will be held from January 7-9, 2016 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre.

“We are already working to put in place funds for the SMEs and trying to impress upon the need for WHO-GMP compliance offering schemes to upgrade production plants, bring in a regulatory mechanism and overhaul tax structure to make Indian pharma more competitive and help boost local manufacture,” he added.

The $32 billion Indian pharma industry exports to 220 countries in the world. It not only meets the requirements of domestic, global markets but also generated an equal share of $16 billion revenues from both national and international sales. The country accounts for 60 per cent of the global vaccines manufacture. Developed countries are able to cut drug costs because of India’s generic supplies. This country has also saved HIV patients in Africa with its supply of high quality and affordable generic drugs. Now India accounts for a mere 2 to 3 per cent of the total global production, but there is ample scope for growth. Indian pharma revenues are targeted to touch $85 billion, by 2020. Such growth and success of the Indian pharma and bio-pharma cannot be ignored despite infrastructure bottle necks and taxation issues, said Dr. Subburaj.

Medical devices is the other big advantage for India and is the basis of all healthcare treatment modalities. Despite qualified personnel, India imports 70 per cent of medical devices which accounts for bulk of the cost in investments for hospitals. This sector has a $15 billion growth potential by 2020 from the current $2 billion. We can grow ten times in about five years through strategic collaborations with global medical majors and start-ups, he said.

Another area of government focus is the research to boost industry and academia collaborations in a bid to dispel myths that Indian pharma and biotech industry would not be able to innovate. There is sufficient talent not just in both government and private sector and two need to work in unison to stimulate innovation, said Dr. Subburaj.