The 66th Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC), a prestigious event for the stakeholders in the industry as well as regulatory officials, got underway in Hyderabad on Friday with three Telangana government ministers wooing investors.
Come and invest in Hyderabad was their call to the delegates from the country and abroad, something they supplemented by highlighting the growth oriented measures being initiated of the State government.
Addressing the inaugural session, in which Chief Minister K. Chandrasekar Rao was scheduled to participate, his son and Information Technology Minister K.T.Rama Rao said Life Sciences is one of the core thrust growth areas identified by the State government. It will get priority, he said, pointing out that the pharma city proposed by the government near Hyderabad on 11,000 acres was the flagship of its pharma policy.
The proposed facility, he said, includes a smart city for the employees of the units to be set there. “There will be no infrastructure problem”, Mr. Rao said. A four-lane expressway will be developed to provide connectivity to the airport from the pharma city.
On how the approvals have been made easy and faster, he said the industry is doing a favour by investing in Telangana and hence the approvals it requires are a matter of right.
Industries Minister Jupally Krishna Rao said in the State, where red carpet is being rolled out for investment, “red tape is totally banished”. Future holds big for the pharma industry and Telangana is keen on enhancing its share - 30 per cent of bulk drug manufactured in the country and 40 per cent of Indian pharma exports are from the State, he said.
Deputy Chief Minister T. Rajaiah invited investors to make Telangana home for their incubation facilities leading to research and development centres.
IPC Association president Venkat Jasti urged the governments to involve all concerned while formulating policies related to pharmaceuticals. The Indian pharma industry was going through tough times due to certain recent events, he said in an obvious reference to the action initiated by regulators against some drug manufacturers. Such actions, he said were based on misperceptions and hence industry need to do some hand holding to handle the situation.
A world pharma trade centre is needed in Hyderabad, which has emerged as the drug capital of the country. He wanted Telangana, at third position in drug manufacturing, to improve and the pharma city project implementation speeded up.
Chairman of IPC organising committee Ravi Uday Bhaskar five agencies besides the industry was behind the Congress. It is one of the biggest scientific conclave being organised without government funding.
Both the Centre and States should appoint only technically qualified persons as Drug Controllers, he said.
