Russia’s Tomsk region known for its pharmaceuticals and chemicals have evinced interest for collaborations and joint ventures with Indian companies. A business delegation of small and medium companies from the Tomsk Region, Russia was here in Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi to ascertain the growth prospects.

With Russia's official succession to the WTO, the customs duties imposed on drugs have dropped from 15 percent to about 6.5 per cent. The two countries are  already exploring the possibility of a Free Trade Agreement to give a fillip to bilateral trade from the existing $6 billion, which is less than one per cent of India’s total foreign trade.

The business delegation organized  by the Tomsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tomsk Region, Russia was in India where along with the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce (FICCI) state branches were looking to discover new opportunities of mutually beneficial cooperation with potential Indian pharma.

Now India is looking to attract investments in the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridors, the New Manufacturing and Investment Zones and increase pharmaceutical export to Russia, noted sources.

Out of the ten member delegation, that were in Karnataka recently,  two specific companies:  Zeleynaya engaged in herbal tea production was scouting for a market here.  Corporate Medicine Center Ltd. is specialised safety-security protection and medicine services for  enterprises, as well as  comprehensive clinical care. This company focuses on employee’s health. Therefore it was looking for an opportunity in India because it was known for its large industrial hubs, according to officials.

It is gathered that the  representative of the Corporate Medicine Center had said that since it was known to provide  highly professional medical services for corporate houses and industrial hubs, it was looking to chip in emergency medicine, working conditions estimation and consult services for safe working conditions offer first-aid training.

For Indian pharma, Russia is a key market for branded formulations in anti infectives, life style disorders, dermatology, nephrology and oncology. However, an issue of non-tariff barriers that are in place especially in drugs registration and research and development of new drugs created difficult for global companies to have an easy access to the Russia market.

In 2012-13, the Union government worked to further strengthen the association with Russia for enhancing trade of pharmaceuticals.

The new Government too is keen to iron out issues and make Russia an easy to trade region for pharmaceuticals.

In addition, companies also face  impediments like access to location in Russia, language barriers, inadequate transit facilities, insufficiency of data on business opportunities and lack of direct and regular interaction among the business entities, pointed out members of Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Association.

The leading companies in India present in the region are Dr. Reddy’s Labs, Shreya Lifesciences, Aurobindo Pharma, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Ranbaxy among others.  From Karnataka, Biocon, Micro Labs, Bal Pharma are also present in Russia.