The government on Monday released guidelines of four incentive schemes for the development of bulk drugs and medical device parks across the country, aimed at reducing the country’s dependence on China for raw materials to produce key antibiotics, anti-HIV drugs, vitamins, and cardio medicines, and in production of medical devices, for which India is crucially dependent upon imports.
The production linked incentive schemes were approved by the Cabinet in March and are worth over Rs 10,000 crore. “In line with the vision of PM Modi, the schemes have been conceptualised for making India ‘Atma Nirbhar’ in the pharma sector,” Union minister of chemicals and fertilisers D V Sadananda Gowda said. The scheme primarily deals with production of 53 critical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) or key starting materials (KSMs).
The coronavirus crisis has exposed the weakness in global supply chains and posed threat to the health security of the country, Gowda said. It was felt that domestic capabilities in production of APIs and medical devices have to be ramped up to eliminate any risks to the health security, he added.
Source: Times of India
