The Bihar branch of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) wants the state government to establish a centralized drug purchasing system for the government supply and give incentives to the local manufacturing units.

The association has given several memorandums to the government in this regard, but so far no positive step has been initiated by the government, says Rabindra Lal Bandyopadhyaya, general secretary of IPA Bihar.

“The pharma manufacturing industry in Bihar, which is dominated by small-scale units, is not getting any incentive or fillip from the government for the growth of the industry in the state. We have made several requests to the government, but no action is taken from the government side”, he said.

Since there is no centralized dug purchasing system in the state, the civil surgeons and hospital superintendents are directly purchasing the drugs from the manufacturing companies or their C&F agents. This paves the way for corruption also. The struggling small scale units are getting no incentive. The existing purchase system is not transparent. Since Schedule M is mandatory, all the units are GMP complied and they need support from government.

Even though there are some major players in Patna and in Muzafarpur districts, not much of drugs could be exported from the state. No encouraging step is taken by the central government or Pharmexcil to help the industry for exports. Even for training the professionals in the units, the industry has to take the initiative to improve the professional skill of the employees, he alleged.

The association wanted the central and state governments to provide all support to the pharma industry for the success of Make in India. The secretary said the association has also wanted the government to set up a pharma park or cluster in the state, but nothing has been done so far.

The major pharma players in Bihar are Asklepios Remedies Pvt. Ltd. in Patna, Rathi Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. in Patna, Amba Research Laboratories, Patna. Ornate Labs Pvt. Ltd, Muzaffarpur, Hindustan Pharma Pvt. Ltd. in Barauni. In addition to these, two herbal manufacturing units are there, Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhawan Pvt. Ltd. and  Herbals (APS) Pvt. Ltd, both are in Patna.