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History of Indian Pharma Industry

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CHAPTER: 1

INTRODUCTION

History of Indian Pharma Industry

The Pharmaceutical industry in India is the world 's third-largest in terms of volume and stands 14th in terms of value. According to Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, the total turnover of India 's pharmaceuticals industry between 2008 and September 2009 was US$21.04 billion. While the domestic market was worth US$ 12.26 billion. Sale of all types of medicines in the country is expected to reach around US$19.22 billion by 2012. Exports of pharmaceuticals products from India increased from US$6.23 billion in 2006-07 to US$8.7 billion in 2008-09 a combined annual growth rate of 21.25%. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in 2010, …show more content…

Growths in other fields notwithstanding, generics are still a large part of the picture. London research company Global Insight estimates that India’s share of the global generics market will have risen from 4% to 33%. The Indian pharmaceutical industry has become the third largest producer in the world and is poised to grow into an industry of $ 20 billion in 2015 from the current turnover of $ 12 billion.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry is a success story. 500 000 people are employed in this sector, in some 12 000 firms. 2 900 of them are large scale units, following a recent article by Pradeep Aggrawal and P. Saibaba in the renowned Economic and Political Weekly of Mumbai (29 September 2001). In the pre- and post-production sector, a further 2.5 million jobs are thought to be involved. Compared to the general price index, drug prices have risen much less in the last 15 years and remain far below average. "Worldwide, India is a country of very low drug prices while producing high quality medicines", Nihchal H. Israni, president of the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA), states proudly. Self-sufficiency with regard to pharmaceutics exceeds 90 percent – in spite of the policy of a more open economy pursued by India since 1991.

The secret of this success is the Indian Patents Act 1970. India had entered independence with the patent system of the British colonial masters, enacted in

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