The government can take a big step in the interest of Indian pharma companies. The government is considering fixing the minimum import price (MIP) of some raw materials used in making medicines. Especially the MIP of the raw material used in making those medicines can be fixed, which is produced under the Production Production Linked Inscent (PLI) scheme. Sources have given this information.
Negotiations between many ministries continue on this plan
This move of the government will help a lot to those pharma companies that are making a big investment for the production of bulk drugs in India under the government’s PLI scheme. However, this plan of the government is still in an early stage. The source said, “The conversation on this plan is going on. The conversation includes representatives associated with the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Prime Minister Office (PMO), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Finance and Industry.”
In the beginning, some special raw material will be decided
The government initially wants to provide protection to the manufacturing of essential active pharmaceuticals angradiants (API) like Penicillin-G (Pen-G) and Clavulanic Acid. Currently, these raw materials are imported in large quantities from China. These are essential raw materials for antibiotic production. People who know about the industry say that Chinese suppliers are keeping their raw material prices very low. Due to this, Indian companies making raw materials are suffering. Especially those companies are facing problems, which are producing raw material under the PLI scheme.
API produced under PLI scheme will benefit
Industry sources say that there are at least 8-10 major raw materials that are being produced under the PLI scheme in India and who are facing tough competition due to cheap imports from China. The senior government official said that the objective of MIP is to provide Indian manufacturers a similar opportunity for production. It is worth noting that under the PLI scheme, good success has been achieved in the production of some major raw materials of drugs. However, raw material produced in India due to cheap imports from China is facing problems.