New Delhi: The Indian Government has decided to hasten the approvals for mega bulk drugs parks in the country to counter the China’s dominance in the sector.
Bulk drugs, also known as active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), are the raw materials for the manufacture of drugs. For example, paracetamol is the API for Crocin.
At present, Indian drug makers import around 70 per cent of their total bulk drugs requirement from China. The government had informed the Lok Sabha that the country’s drug makers imported bulk drugs and intermediates worth $2.4 billion from China in the 2018-19 fiscal.
To fight this dependence, the central government has now cleared four proposals to set up bulk drug parks, ThePrint has learnt. The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, has given ‘in-principle approvals’ to the projects in Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Assam.
“The final approval will be given as soon as they show us the required documentation and within two years of final approval, the projects should be operational,” a senior official from the ministry told ThePrint.