Minister applauds India's Pharma achievements

Addressing the recent annual meeting of the Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, Shri Ashok Kumar, Secretary of the Department of Pharmaceuticals at the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, said the trade group has been making continuous contributions to health care and the country's economic growth.

He noted that the Indian pharmaceutical sector is now a $19 billion industry and has shown tremendous progress in terms of infrastructure development, technology, human resource with a wide range of products. The industry now produces bulk drugs in all major therapeutic groups requiring complicated manufacturing and technologies.

Currently, it ranks third worldwide by volume and 14th by value, and is showing excellent performance on the export front, trading with more than 200 countries worldwide. India exported around $8 billion of drugs in the 2008/9 fiscal year, mostly to the USA and Europe, followed by Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa, the Minister noted.

The audience was informed about the recently established Department of Pharmaceuticals, putting efforts into promotion of research, education, training and encouraging inter-sectoral partnership by garnering support from public and private companies.

He urged the members of the association to identify the drugs, which are yet to be introduced in India and devise processes to help in their introduction in the country. Appreciating the efforts towards innovation of this industry, he noted that about 90% of the product patents granted are within this industry.