With the units in Baddi of Himachal Pradesh, once hot hub for pharma industry, becoming less attractive and more competitive in the changed circumstances, the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) along with other stakeholders has taken a lead to help them improve fortunes with an export-oriented approach.

With most of the SME units facing tough future, the Pharmexcil, EXIM Bank, the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Ltd (ECGC) have offered assistance to the local manufacturers to tap the export potential.

“Baddi still contributes 35-40 per cent of the country’s total production, but the export from the region is nominal. If they can tap this potential, it will improve the bottomline very much,” said Pharmexcil chairman N R Munjal, while addressing the industry at Baddi on Friday.

Offering whole-hearted assistance from the export promotion council, SME panel chief of Pharmexcil, Nipun Jain said the units asked the local manufacturers to make use of the cluster scheme by the Commerce Ministry which offers plenty of funds.

Officials from the financial institutions like EXIM Bank and ECGC under the commerce ministry also committed assistance to the manufacturers who listed out their hurdles on the export front including lack of working capital.

The interactive session, held for the first time by the Pharmexcil at Baddi, focused on the export opportunities for small and medium scale companies, WHO GMP Certification, DGFT, Customs & Central Excise Procedures for Pharma Exports, finance for SMEs, update on Export Credit Guarantee and MDA/MAI Schemes.

Pharmexcil regional director Abhay Kumar Sinha briefed on the MDA and MAI scheme while drug inspector from the area Garima Sharma gave a presentation on the WHO-GMP certification.

Africa panel chief of Pharmexcil Bhavin Mehta, senior industry leader B R Sikri, and Pharmexcil vice chairman Ashutosh Gupta also addressed the gathering represented by a large number of manufacturing units in the region.