Indian pharma industry is facing an acute shortage of gelatine, used for the manufacture of hard capsules, soft gels, coated tablets, mini, micro capsules. The shortfall is because gelatine makers have either faced closure of units due to labour unrest, effluent issues and cyclone in December which damaged the plant and material.

With the rising global prices, domestic gelatine manufacturers are working to maximise the export orders. Now with the depreciating rupee they will be able to earn substantial increase in revenue by exporting the same. This is further aggravating the problem of availability of gelatine in domestic market. The gelatine users are facing high import duty of 20 per cent compared to 7.5 per cent on most of the raw materials, and this makes it unviable to import gelatine. These factors have led to gelatine prices to shoot up by almost 25 per cent in last two months alone. For instance hard capsule grade of gelatine, which was available at about Rs.280/- per kg in month of October, 2011, is now being sold at Rs.350-360/- per kg, stated industry souces.

Gelatine is mainly used by pharma industry for manufacture of hard and soft capsules. Hard capsule manufacturers resell their product to pharma industry for further processing and marketing of the finished formulations. Soft capsule industry manufacture their own formulations using the gelatine.

Hard capsule manufacturers have been affected badly due to this sudden increase in the cost of gelatine, as this is the only major raw material for their product.

There are 15 units engaged in the manufacture of capsule manufacturing using hard gelatine and all of them are in serious trouble. The government can only help them by way of reducing the import duty on gelatine.

For the manufacture of a number of popular pharma products also, gelatine is being used. These products are likely to be costly in view of severe shortage of Gelatine in the country in recent months, stated experts.

Apart from pharma industry wherein gelatine is used in the form of capsules, or as a tablet binding material, it is also used in manufacture of X-ray films, food industry (for jelly making), or as glue by many other industries. It is manufactured by processing of animal bones.

India’s total installed gelatine production capacity of its nine units is around 20,000 tonnes per year. Currently domestic consumption is estimated at 10,000 tonnes of which 8,000 tonnes is used for the production of hard gelatines and remaining 2,000 tomes for soft gel. The country exports about 12,000 tonnes annually. Many of the users also import about 1,500 tonnes of the same per year.

There are nine manufacturers of Gelatine in India: Sterling Biotech, Baroda, Sterling Biotech-Ooty, Narmada Gelatine Ltd, Jabalpur, Nitta Geltines Ltd, Kochi, Raymon Gelatines Ltd, Baroda, India Gelatines Ltd, Vapi, Pioneer Jellaice Ltd, Cuddalore, Rama Gelatines Ltd, Punjab, C J Gelatines Ltd., Bhopal.

In the production of soft gel, the use of gelatine is lower compared to 50 percent of its content in hard capsules. Gelatine users have drastically reduced the production by almost 50 per cent in last three months thereby causing a severe shortage.

Users who were importing gelatine have been forced to cut down their imports due to drastic increase in international prices, and depreciation of Indian Rupee since last few months. To fulfil their requirement they are picking up the available material in the domestic market at higher prices.