Government spells out plan to penetrate drug export markets

The Commerce Ministry's strategy paper on doubling export revenues spells out a two-pronged approach to penetrate the drug export markets.

As per the paper, the government seeks to either maintain the existing position or, wherever possible, enhance market share in regions where India's presence is already robust, such as North America, Africa and the European Union (EU).

While considering Mexico and Brazil as countries in Latin America having huge export potential, the government also intends to renew focus on countries within the EU and Africa where the rate of growth and market share have been substantially low.

The paper also spells out specific strategies to boost the volume of medicine exports to China and Japan.

It also proposes giving financial incentives to exporters on the lines of some other countries. According to a senior official of the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil), China provides $75 million as support to promote the bulk drug industry in the country, due to which even MNCs are setting up huge production facilities there. "We need to think on similar lines if our export advantage is to be retained," he says.