E-Paper
HP drug makers write to PM to save crisis-hit pharma industry
HP drug makers want the central government to form a ‘Pharmaceutical Raw and Packaging Material Task Force’ to protect the crisis-hit pharma industry
The drug manufacturers of Himachal Pradesh have asked the central government to form a “Pharmaceutical Raw and Packaging Material Task Force” to protect the MSME industry from the crisis due to soaring prices in raw and packaging material to avert any shortfall of medicine in the country.
In a letter written to PM Narendra Modi, president of HP Drug Manufacturers Association Rajesh Gupta said the task force should comprise members of various ministries, including health, chemicals and fertilisers, commerce, and Niti Aayog.
He said it should deliberate on the functioning of direct import and manufacturers’ cartels besides import impact in India, manufacturers of bulk drugs in India along with their issues and prices.
Gupta said there are 8,500 MSMEs and 2,000 large pharma manufacturing industries which cater to the domestic and international market making India the ‘pharmacy of the world’.
He said Himachal has more than 600 pharmaceutical units consisting of 80% of MSME and 20% large industry.
Gupta said with the prices of various APIs, packaging materials increasing substantially in the recent times, the pharma industry is in deep crisis.
He said the prices of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have seen a hike of 25% to 300% since the Covid-19 outbreak.
For example, he stated that paracetamol prices have gone up to up to ₹1,000/kg whereas during pre-Covid times it was just ₹300/kg.
Gupta said chief minister Jai Ram Thakur had raised the issue with the Centre in April last year after which the drug controller had sought extensive data from the manufacturers.
Even as one year has passed since the data was submitted, Gupta said, no steps have been taken to resolve the issues facing the pharma industry.
