Resurgence of Indian Pharma

Mr. Sunil Daga and Mr Ashish Desai representing Working capital & BL vertical at Kotak Mahindra Bank shared their views:

Kotak Mahindra bank offers 4 key services: Banking solutions, Risk Coverage solutions, Digital Solutions and Funding solutions which can support growth of Indian Pharma industry.

Pharma spend for every Indian is comparatively low as compared to other countries and as income level rises in a country the pharma spending capacity is bound to grow.

Kaushik Desai – Advisor IPMMA

This pandemic has been unprecedented, and the role of digital and automation is evident from this duration. We are communicating now almost completely digitally than physically. Like every other industry the set of challenges this pandemic has offered, Pharma machinery industry is not an exception.

The MSME’s have suffered the most in terms of supply chain complexity, workforce availability and cash flow. Indian Pharma Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (IPMMA) mainly consists of members from MSME sector. Many such issues have not deterred pharma and machinery sector to rise to the occasion of uninterrupted supply not just in India but globally. MSME has played a major role in this resurgence and 60% of the products of this industry are provided MSME’s.

One positive outcome of this pandemic is that the stakeholders including government have come together on a common platform in framing supporting policies to mitigate the ongoing challenges. The initiative of cluster development and building innovation centers gives MSME support to a great extent.

Industry should have collaborative approach towards R&D and innovation, although we have miles to go, we need to start somewhere and gradually pick up the momentum. Collaborative approach with government funded research institutes should be prioritized, particularly Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) accelerating innovation focused projects. Several members of IPMMAhave started implementing IIOT, AI, Machine Learning tools and more, which will help us to be in line with the global digital scenario.

We also need to work on our Industry-Academia interface since the pace of change in education system is not at par with the technology evolution, it has to be dynamically updated. The government has recently taken steps for strengthening this interface by the new National Education Policy (NEP 2020). IPMMA has plan to collaborate with institutes to start certified course in Pharmaceutical Engineering aimed at creating an employable workforce.

Pharma industry cannot grow on its own, Pharma machinery industry has to grow with it. We at IPMMA are working with our members for supporting government initiative of Make In India. We all should work collectively towards our common mission of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Mr. Rahul Guha – MD & Partner, The Boston Consulting Group

Pharma industry in India always had a growth head room. Per capita spending in India is $20 which is far below than many countries, in US it’s close to $1,000.The pandemic has brought in a huge awareness about health. We have been globally competitive in pricing and capable of providing good quality medicines. Most pharma companies have recognized the opportunity as the demands continues to be stable. As the industry players ramp up their capacities a huge surge in the demand in packaging and ancillary industries is seen.

India is currently the third largest supplier for generic drugs in the world. With this it is clear that India is a destination of choice for sourcing pharmaceutical drugs. However, in R&D we have a long way to go which needs an entire eco-system for its support. Currently in India working on a drug discovery program is a game of few big players who carry that capacity while a small or medium scale player would need that support to complete the eco-system.

Atmanirbhar Bharatis definitelya great initiative that many are rooting for, however in principal we need some concrete execution to reach that potential. We need to bridge the viability gap of 10% in making Atmanirbhar Bharata reality. Government support definitely can boost it by providing economic power, providing incentives for skilled manpower.