Despite various problems faced by the pharmaceutical industry in the country, India's pharma exports are growing at the rate of 25 per cent and would surpass the set target of $25 billion by the end of 2015, according to Dr P V Appaji, director general (DG), Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil).

Dr Appaji expressed his concern that at present the domestic pharma industry in Andhra Pradesh is facing acute power shortage because of which input costs have gone up by 30-40 per cent as pharma units are spending extra on alternative power generation. The international economic slowdown and recent regulatory issues in European Union (EU) are also some of the factors that are responsible for the slow growth of Indian pharma exports.

While interacting to media in Hyderabad at a curtain raiser function to announce the launch of iPHEX 2013, which is scheduled to be organized during April 24-26, in Mumbai, Dr Appaji said, “We are confident that Indian pharma industry will reach its intended export targets by overcoming all the hurdles. In order to promote the Indian domestic pharma industry we are organizing iPHEX an exclusive India show on the lines of global CPhI (comprehensive pharmaceutical industry) conference.”

iPHEX 2013 will showcase India’s pharma products especially from the domestic players and SMEs to the global clients. The event is expected to receive more than 400 international buyers and regulators and will see the presence of 5000 business visitors. The campaign has been initiated by Ministry of commerce and will be executed by Pharmexcil in association with India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF).

At present the Indian exports are mainly driven by growth in formulations and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). In the API segment India is likely to take over other nations in the near future with increased focus on quality and certification of the drugs.

Though Andhra Pradesh is regarded as the bulk drug hub of the country, during the past few months the pharma industry has been witnessing acute power shortages and more over the state government had levied fuel surcharges which is costing heavily to the pharma industry especially the API units which needs more power.

“The government should give subsidised power to the industry especially for the R&D segment and should be exempted from huge power tariffs. The power consumed by the R&D units should not be considered as commercial, otherwise this will impact on the R&D growth and will hamper the future growth prospects of the industry,” said Appaji.