The Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) will take all pharma associations on a common platform to create a combined task force and work for the benefit of the small and medium scale sector by addressing their multiple problems, said newly-elected vice-chairman of Pharmexcil Ashutosh Gupta.

Besides, the agency will approach the Ministry of Commerce for further widening and liberalising the marketing development assistance (MDA) and market access initiative (MAI) schemes so that more SMEs could take benefits out of them extensively, Ashutosh told Pharmabiz, while spelling out his priorities as the vice-chairman and plans for the SME sector.

He said the agency would create a task force involving all associations like IDMA, FOPE, CIPI to work for the SMEs as the sector needs the support of the entire industry and agencies for growth. The sector is confronted with multiple problems from dying profitability to less-conducive regulatory mechanism, he said

“We have also some concrete plans to help the SME sector better. We will try to ensure easy and useful finances for SMEs so that they can leverage their potentials and capabilities in the best possible manner and prove their merit in the overall industry scenario,” he said.

As the agency committed to promoting pharma exports from the country, the Pharmexcil will initiative steps to ensure better access for SMEs in foreign market. Another plan is to getting cheaper clinical research organization services for SMEs, he said.

Increasing tariff barrier, ever-increasing number of plant inspections and registration expenses, lack of promotional back-up outside the country, weak duty drawback scheme (introduced in the place of DEPB), barcoding system, and dying API industry were a few among the major issues being faced by the industry in general and SMEs in particular, he pointed out.

The 30-year-old leader was propped up mostly by the SME members of the Pharmexcil for the post of vice-chairman. The executive director of Medicamen Biotech Ltd, Ashutosh has been active for many years to take up the issues of SMEs with the authorities and was part of the many initiatives to promote Indian brand image abroad in the recent past.

Referring to the immediate tasks before the new committee of administration, he said the Council had set targets to double exports from India by 2015 and the team would work towards this goal. The target can be achieved only through inclusive growth and SME has a key role as the growth engine, he said. Another important task of Pharmexcil will be to promote Brand India through various channels in a more aggressive manner, he added.

He also disclosed that more seminars will be organized for the SME sector to increase awareness about the existing opportunities and take maximum benefits out of the schemes by the Ministry of Commerce. Another plan is to introduce a mega Pharmexcil Expo exclusively for the SMEs, in the lines of CPHI. He also said more delegations would be taken abroad and more buyer-seller meets would be organized to help the SMEs.