Gowda holds meeting over three bulk drug parks and four medical device parks

• Govt plans to give one-time grants-in-aid to three bulk drug parks with a maximum limit of Rs 1000 Crore per park

• Rs 100 Crore per to be given as one-time grants-in-aid per medical device park

New Delhi (Pharma Watch Bureau): Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda today held a meeting with senior officers of Department of Pharmaceuticals today to review various aspects of the proposed development of three Bulk Drug Parks and four Medical Device Parks across the country. The meeting was attended by Minister of state Mansukh Mandaviya, Secretary Pharmaceuticals PD Vaghela, Joint Secretary Navdeep Rinwa and Dr S Eswara Reddy, Joint Drugs Controller. Both the ministers suggested that the modalities of the selection of locality of parks as well as of beneficiaries under PLI scheme should be based on some well-defined objective criteria to ensure the orderly development of the parks. 
 
Gowda said that these schemes will increase the competitiveness of domestic production of bulk drugs and medical devices due to benefits available in clusters in the form of state of art common infrastructure and logistics facilities. Development of these parks will not only reduce our dependency on imports but will also be helpful in making India a major player in global pharma exports. With rising per capita income and increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases, the out of pocket expenditure on medicines and devices like a stent is set to accelerate in future. The vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make affordable medicines available to every citizen requires that medicines are produced in the country at a cheaper rate. These schemes are the need of the hour. 
 
With Prime Minister Modi's thrust on building "Atmanirbhar Bharat" and strengthening of drug security, the Union Cabinet has approved schemes for supporting the development of three bulk drug parks and four medical device parks on March 21, 2020, in order to reduce dependency on imports and boost local manufacturing and employment. Under the promotion of the bulk drug parks, Government of India will give one-time grants-in-aid to three bulk drug parks with a maximum limit of Rs 1000 Crore per Bulk Drug Park, or 70 % (90 % in case of hilly States and North-East Region) of the project cost of Common Infrastructure Facilities whichever is less. In addition, Government has also approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of 53 identified critical KSMs/Drug Intermediates and APIs in the country with an outlay of Rs 6,940 crore during the tenure of the scheme from 2020-21 to 2027-28. 
 
Similarly, for promotion of Medical Device Parks, Government of India will give one-time grants-in-aid to four Medical Device Parks with a maximum limit of Rs. 100 Crore per Medical Device Park, or 70 % (90 % in case of hilly States and North-East Region) of the project cost of Common Infrastructure Facilities whichever is less. In addition, Government has also approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of medical devices in the country with an outlay of Rs 3420 crore during the tenure of the scheme from 2020-21 to 2025-26. 
 
Secretary Pharmaceuticals gave a brief on various aspects of bulk drug and medical device parks and said that the Department is in the process of formulating guidelines for implementation of these schemes.

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