Given the union government’s penchant for innovative policies for encouraging indigenous technologies and setting up of manufacturing units, pharmacy professionals from various parts of the country with industry and academia experience have appealed to the Prime Minister to revive five sick drugs manufacturing companies in the public sector.

The PSUs such as Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL), Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL), Smith Stanistreet Pharmaceuticals Ltd (SSP), Bengal Immunity Ltd (BIL) and Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BCPL) are the major ailing drug manufacturing units that need government’s attention. The union government has recently decided to revive these PSUs, said Dr R N Gupta, former manager of the Bihar state pharmaceutical and chemicals development corporation (BPCDC).

He said the Ranchi based Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), wherein the important parts of the recently launched GSLV Mark-3 were manufactured, was in the list of sick industrial units along with the five drugs manufacturing PSUs from 1993 to 2002. The HEC was revived later, but the drugs manufacturing companies still continuing as sick units.

In the Indian drug market, from 1975 to 2003 the medicines manufactured by these PSUs were available with lower price keeping low profit margin for the benefit of the masses. But after closing down of SSPL and BIL, and cutting down the major size of IDPL and HAL in 2003 by the union government, the drug market was seriously affected. Further, there was closing down of small scale units in many states after 2005. This situation had affected the affordability of the common people for purchase of medicines and resulted in emergence of several private manufacturing companies with higher prices for medicines.

In the representation to the prime minister, the signatories have mentioned that revival of IDPL and HAL will help the common people to avail all the essential drugs on moderate rates and qualified pharmacy graduates will get more employment opportunities.

Further the government should also think of enhancing the subsidy given for the small and medium scale drug manufacturing units in the country, and incentives should be provided to the pharmacy graduates to set up small industrial units, the representation said.