Fulfilling vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat: Govt allocates over Rs 10,000 crores in PLI scheme for bulk drugs and medical devices

New Delhi: DV Sadananda Gowda, Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers commended India’s capabilities as a global and reliable supplier of drugs and medical devices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Citing the recent UNCTAD report, he also pointed out India’s positive FDI growth even with a decline in FDI of 42% globally.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of India Pharma 2021 & India Medical Devices 2021 organized by FICCI along with Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India, and Invest India, Mr Gowda said, “As the pandemic exposed the global vulnerabilities of the supply chains in the pharmaceuticals sector, the Department of Pharmaceuticals launched the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for bulk drugs, with a financial outlay of ₹6,940 crores across 53 APIs over 6 years. For Medical Devices, another PLI scheme was announced with an outlay of ₹3,420. Such interventions & incentives have played an instrumental role in realizing Hon’ble PM’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, or India for the world.”

Mr Gowda added, “We supplied numerous COVID-related medical devices such as ventilators, RT-PCR kits, PPE Kits, and masks at a global level and ramped up our production capacity rapidly from virtually nil to 0.5Mn. We supplied HCQ to over 100 countries and are now leading vaccine production for our neighbors. The medical devices industry in India has the potential to grow at 28% p.a. to reach $50 bn by 2025. Moreover, FDI growth has been close to 100% year on year, reflecting the incredible level of opportunity that is being tapped into.”

Mr Gowda further said, “In this edition of India Pharma Medical Device 2021, the goal is to identify ways to realize the potential of the industry such that we can emerge an even stronger supplier of quality drugs and medical devices, through solving challenges and plan for continued growth.”
Highlighting the Ease-of-Doing business within the sector, Mr Gowda added, “Pharma Bureau established in the Department of Pharma has started actively engaging with industry, handholding the investors & taking up the pending issue of investors with various govt departments.”

Mr Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution said, “57 countries have already joined India’s leadership in demanding Intellectual Property Waiver for COVID-19 vaccine. Leaders everywhere are rising up to the challenge and joining PM Modi Ji’s call for affordable health for the entire world. Globally, India is one stop solution provider for the entire health ecosystem, and we are confident enough to deal with anything related to health. Regulatory & good manufacturing practices, systems and certifications, approvals, will always help us grow in scale and bring down the price.”

Mr Mansukh L Mandaviya, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers said, “Under the astute leadership of Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi, India fought a successful battle against COVID-19globally. With a population of more than 1.3 Bn, India was the most vulnerable to the pandemic given its socio-economic background. However, with the introduction of effective interventions by the Government under the able leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Modi ji, such as the well-planned and timely lockdown& the development of indigenous vaccines, India has undoubtedly emerged as the victor in fighting COVID-19. With the Government’s strong grit and fighting spirit of the Indians, India has also emerged as one of the largest manufacturers of PPE kits, masks, ventilators, and testing kits. Where India used to import even testing kits from the outside world in the past decades, it is now self-reliant or “Aatmanirbhar” and is playing a major role in the global supply chain.”

Mr Mandaviya further added, “as India continues to strengthen its status as a leading investment destination by continuously improving its Ease of Doing Business through the enactment of several policy measures especially during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure continuity, I am sure this platform will be instrumental in contributing to India’s growth story and to chart out the path of progress of both the industry & the country.”

Ms S Aparna, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said, “The multidisciplinary medical device industry along with the Department of Pharmaceuticals has strived towards the interest of the patient, sustainable growth of the sector, and the goal for affordable and universal healthcare. In close partnership with DPIIT under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry we are happy to acknowledge the PLI scheme for pharmaceuticals with an unpreceded outlay of 15,000 crores. We believe this will be a game changer in transforming our industry.”

“We are at a juncture where enhanced cooperation between industry and policy makers will help us to achieve the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat in its truest sense of making in India and making for the world,” Ms Aparna added.

Mr Pankaj Patel, Mentor, FICCI Pharma Committee and Chairman & Managing Director, Zydus Cadila said, “An increase in spending by the government on healthcare and investment is necessary with a policy that is clear and coherent resulting in the sustainability of the industry. Up scaling the people’s talent and getting regulatory system on a global level is need of the hour.”

Addressing on the medical device industry, Dr Shravan Subramanyam, Co-Chair, Medical Devices Committee, FICCI and President & CEO, GE Healthcare South Asia said, “The 2021 budget has focused on a stronger public healthcare system. It has dedicated Rs. 14000 crores to the pharma & Medtech infrastructure industry over 6 years. To achieve the universal goals and make India self-resilient, the first step is to build mutual trust and develop innovative partnership models and Integrate digital technology and tools which can bring in the needed transparency and accountability. As we move towards becoming a manufacturing hub, exports will increase but at the same time, certain imports will increase too.

Mr Sriram Shrinivasan, Global Generics and National Health and Life sciences Leader, EY, said, “The pandemic has revealed the importance of digital in all walks of life. This fits in well with two sectors that India is strong in — Technology and Pharmaceuticals and the convergence of both these strengths could make India a leader in the Healthcare of tomorrow. We must take upon ourselves a moon-shot target for the pharma industry in India, whereby all stakeholders come together on one platform and take a pledge of commercializing indigenous novel drugs (both biological and chemical). We must build efficiencies across the pharmaceutical value chain, adopt technology, be globally competitive, create newer markets for branded & specialty pharmaceuticals, complex APIs, build to scale differentiated innovative drugs to meet the collective ambition of all stakeholders.”