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In a bid to improve ease of doing business in the country, Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilisers D V Sadananda Gowda has said that the government is continuously working to reduce regulatory compliance burden on the pharma industry. The minister also emphasised that the domestic pharma industry has the capability to achieve the target of $130 billion turnover by 2030.

Gowda said the country has been serving more than 200 plus countries and territories with its pharma products and it will continue to grow in value terms. He noted that Indian pharma industry can achieve the ambitious target which it has set for itself, reaching an annual turnover of $130 billion by 2030. Similarly, the medical device industry in the country has the potential to grow to about $50 billion by 2025. He further said ‘Along with this growth I am sure the industry will stay committed to the noble cause of providing drugs at an affordable price to the common man’.

The minister said the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities of the global supply chain in the pharma sector. In order to take care of that, the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has launched a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for bulk drugs and medical devices with an outlay of Rs 6,940 crore and Rs 3,420 crore respectively.

Gowda said ‘we have been able to approve applications of incentives worth Rs 6,564 crore already. Besides, the Cabinet has also approved another PLI scheme for the pharma sector with an outlay of Rs 15,000 crore. We want to support manufacturing units to become global champions, and penetrate the global value chain’. He added that the government wants to build domestic capabilities in high-end specialised products such as biopharmaceuticals, complex generic drugs and gene therapy drugs. The Minister also sought industry participation in government schemes like Ayushman Bharat Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana.