Indian drugmaker Venus sets out pre-budget expectations

The Union Finance Minister should take his government’s “Make in India” campaign to the next level by taking steps to boost indigenous research, says Pawan Chaudhary, chairman and managing director of Indian research-based drugmaker Venus Remedies (BSE: 526953), outlining his expectations from the 2015-16 Union Budget.

The Finance Minister should give impetus to R&D in the pharmaceutical sector through incentive-linked funding to companies engaged in in-house research and special tax rebates on income from patents, as is the practice in many European countries, he contends.

This will help India come up with low-cost innovative solutions in critical care segments like antimicrobial resistance and oncology, says Mr Chaudhary. The government should take measures to accelerate the pace of growth in the pharmaceutical sector through incentives to exporters, like exemption under Section 80HHC. There is also an urgent need to rectify the inverted structure of excise duty in the pharmaceutical industry.