Centre plans med tech zone in B'luru, seeks land from state

Pharmaceuticals ministry will be set up by March: Ananth Kumar

The Central government has planned a med tech zone in Bengaluru on the lines of Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone Limited, Visakhapatnam, Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar said here on Saturday.

Speaking at the inauguration of India Pharma and India Medical Device 2017, he said the Centre had sought land from the state government and requested the Minister for Medium and Large Scale Industries, R V Deshpande, to provide land in Electronics City.

He said India exported drugs to 215 countries and accounted for 20% of global exports of generic medicine. “Every fifth drug the world consumes is from India,” he said. He announced that the Department of Pharmaceuticals would be converted into an independent ministry by March.

Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industries, said the government had decided to include the medical device sector among the 25 flagship industries to boost the ‘Make in India’ programme and reduce imports.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Karnataka was among the growing bio-pharmaceutical states and ranked fifth in pharma exports, contributing 10% to the Indian pharma export revenue. “Karnataka is the largest bio-technology hub in India with 194 out of the 340 bio-tech companies,” he added.

Minister for Medical Education Sharanprakash Patil said though Karnataka was the largest consumer of drugs and medical devices, no big company took part in the tenders called by the state government and that forced it to compromise on quality.

India Pharma and India Medical Device 2017 is a three-day international exhibition and conference on pharmaceutical industry organised by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Delegates from 16 countries, ambassadors of seven countries and eight international regulators are participating in the event, according to Sudhansh Pant, Joint Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals.