Govt may come out with new bulk drug policy in a month: Hansraj Ahir

Last month, the DoP had moved a Cabinet note on bulk drugs, based on recommendations of Katoch committee

The government is expected to announce the new bulk drug policy in a month’s time, which is expected to bring down imports, Union Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilizers, Hansraj Ahir has said.

“We are coming out with new bulk drug policy in month’s time. The policy is aimed at bringing down imports of bulk drugs and increasing the domestic output,” Ahir said on the sidelines of Make in India week in Mumbai.

Last month, the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) had moved a Cabinet note on bulk drugs, based on recommendations of Katoch committee.

“We have the potential to grow to $200 billion by 2030 from the present $32 billion. The global pharma industry is estimated at $1,000 billion. We need to upscale our pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity to become the largest producer of the drugs in the world,” said VK Subburaj, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.

The industry is growing at 8-9 per cent per annum at present, and even if we maintain the same growth rate, we can reach $110 billion by 2030, Subburaj said, adding that we need to overcome several challenges to achieve this herculean task.

The domestic medical device market is estimated at $5 billion which has a potential to touch $100 billion, he said. To overcome the quality problems, we need to have our own APIs manufacturing capacities. The new bulk drug policy will help in increasing the domestic bulk drug production and reduce dependence on Chinese imports, he added. The government’s Make in India initiative will help the growth of the domestic pharma industry in a big way, he said.

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