In an effort to boost domestic manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and medical devices under ‘Make in India’, the Centre will establish a Pharma and Med Tech Zone in Bengaluru in partnership with State government, Union Minister for Chemical and Fertilizers Minister Ananth Kumar has said. He was speaking at the India Pharma and India Medical Device International Conference.

In this fiscal, the Indian pharma sector received Foreign Direct Investment close to $14 billion and has generated employment for over 2.5 million people across India.

Talking about the achievements of the pharma sector, he congratulated the industry for achieving a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 15% and expressed confidence that the sector would be worth $55 billion by 2020 from the present $32 billion.

The Minister also said that India accounts for around 20% of the world’s generic medicine supply chain, exporting to over 250 countries globally. “Indian Pharma Industry provides over 60% of global vaccines,” he added.

Further he said, the government has addressed pending long pending issues to promote Ease of Doing Business in pharma and medical devices sector. “The correction of the inverted duty structure for medical devices, withdrawal of extension duty on imports to promote domestic manufacturing of bulk drugs and bringing about a fair, transparent, predictable and level playing field in the sector are some,” he said.

Speaking at the event Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister, Karnataka said, “The state pharma industry constitutes 264 manufacturing units that include small-medium, large, public sector and multinational companies. The state stands fifth in pharmaceuticals exports with 40% of its pharma produce being exported overseas.”

The event will witness over 250 exhibitors from the pharmaceuticals & medical device sector, buyers from over 24 countries, international regulators from eight countries and over 29 Embassy officials and over 10,000 business visitors during the three days of the event.