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State govt promises all help to spur pharma sector in West Bengal: WBPMA
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Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai
April 18 , 2024
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The West Bengal pharmaceutical industry expects a more positive turn in the post-election period as the state government has given assurance to the pharma manufacturers that the government will positively consider their issues and find solutions to give the much needed fillip to the drug manufacturing business in the state, according to industry sources.
The industry leaders have been invited by the government for a discussion to know their burning issues, but the meeting will take place after the general elections. Meanwhile, meetings with the principal secretary of health and special secretary of health were held and both of them were very responsive. The new commissioner of the FDA is also providing help from the regulatory side to the industries, said Probhas Bondhu Chakraborty, general secretary of the WB Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (WBPMA).
“We are now in talks with the government. The state government is more receptive to the state’s pharma manufacturers and willing to provide all support to address the issues faced by industry. Because of the Model Code of Conduct of the elections a meeting with the government is possible only after the government. So, we are hopeful that the pharma sector will further boom in West Bengal soon,” he told over telephone.
While talking to Pharmabiz over telephone, he said the government has assured the industry all support for ease of doing business. Whatever the support it can provide to address the issues of the industry will be provided, but the MSME sector is facing a major problem that is the implementation of the revised Schedule M, for which the state government has limits to support. Probhas said the association has called a meeting of all small and medium industries to discuss the issues pertaining to the new GMP. However, the government has already addressed some issues of the industry for the development of the pharma sector.
Licensing system has been made more accessible by making four SLA offices in certain districts so that companies in industrial areas of districts like Burdwan, Durgapur and Siliguri can access smooth and fast licensing. For expediting the licensing process, document submission has been rationalized and guidelines were framed to harmonize the operations of the SLA offices. Further, the association has apprised the government of the issues pertaining to government supplies by local manufacturers, and it is hoped that the government will soon make a policy to support the local manufacturers for government supplies. One of our serious issues is financial constraints, to address it we are urging the government to quickly disburse loans and subsidies by the government under the Pharmaceutical Technology Upgradation Assistance Scheme (PTUAS), he told Pharmabiz.
When asked about the recent fake and substandard drug issues in the market in West Bengal, Probhas Bondhu Chakraborty said all those spurious and fake drugs came to West Bengal from Uttarakhand and Gurgaon in north India, but the incident has tarnished the image of the WB pharma industry. He said WBPMA is organizing three webinars every month to educate their members on the new Schedule M, now planning to hold one involving the Pharmexcil, either in this month or in next month.
Meanwhile, the former deputy drugs controller and chairman of the regulatory affairs division (RAD) of the IPA, Dr. Subhash Mondal said one of the factors that became a bottleneck for the improvement of pharma sector in WB is the growth and development of the industries in Assam and in Sikkim. He said he is welcoming the support of the state government for the growth of the WB pharma industry.
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