‘One window clearance should be made possible’

• Firstly, there has to be a separate documented booklet on schemes announced by the Government till today, specially for the pharma sector alone, by the MSME ministry. An urgent fact finding meeting should be held by all stakeholder associations with the Central Government to evaluate the true financial requirements for upgrading this knowledge-based industry and accordingly move and quantify the financial requirements which is holistic, factual and useful to the industry to establish a progressive path.
• The information in the booklet should contain all the details but in a brief format so that they could be authentically circulated by associations like Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA), Federation of Pharmaceuticals Entrepreneurs (FOPE) and the regional smaller associations in the country. A soft copy of the same could be sent to all relevant associations for circulation to their respective members. The title of the text should be ‘MSME (Pharmaceuticals).’
• A clear directive should be given to nodal bankers like Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) as well as other nationalised banks to enable pharma manufacturers to be addressed differently in a focussed way to enable them to get necessary working capital loans and disbursement of subsidised loan announced by the Central Government, as well as state governments for up gradations.
• One window clearance should be made possible if the papers of a loan seeker are genuine. If possible reduce taxes in pharma products including custom and excise duties in order to make the products cheaper to the ultimate consumer, the patient. This is in line with the principle of Drug Price Control Order basically mooted for reducing the prices of medicines.
• Any new programmes or initiatives announced by the Government should be only done after consultation with stakeholder associations. For e.g. barcoding, pet bottles etc. They are perceived as being without satisfactory inputs from the industry.
• Any draft circulation notification issued to be circulated to stakeholder associations by the Central Government should be done on time, possibly on the same date when notified. This enables the association and its members to seriously take a call and make as well as seek amendments if necessary.
• Encourage MSME (Pharmaceutical) organisations to get R&D facilities accentuated by providing the academia co-ordination like universities and major reputed academics institutions. Realising the fact that MSME manufacturers alone cannot pour in that sort of capital for R&D activity, the Government can come forward and encourage universities to help MSME through funds to conduct R&D activities on behalf of MSME entrepreneurs.
• Exhibition platforms should be provided to MSME pharma manufacturers in different locations of the country, where in all allied industries connected with manufacturing, regulatory-oriented machineries and other relevant ancillary industries are displayed and thus encourage B2B activities. This is justifiable because the pharma industry is a knowledge-based industry and ever evolving.
• A more focussed approach by the Health Ministry and Commerce Ministry could be achieved by taking cognizance of various inputs required for the progress of the Indian pharma industry. All the views should be addressed and cleared for the industry, so as to achieve self-sufficiency in healthcare for one and all as well as achieve a robust manufacturing atmosphere for medicines in the country.

– SR Vaidya, Chairman, MSME Sub Committee, IDMA