Indian will be among the first one to develop low cost Covid-19 vaccines: Minister

Union Minister for Chemical and Fertilizers D V Sadananda Gowda said that the Indian pharma industry will be among the first ones to develop and supply low-cost vaccines for Covid-19.

He expressed this confidence while addressing a Webinar organized by the Invest India Pharma Bureau and the Department of pharmaceuticals.

Gowda stresses that the Indian pharma and medical devices industry was able to rise to the occasion.

He added, "It is a matter of great pride for me and millions of Indians that from being a net importer, India has become the second largest producer of PPE Kits in the world with daily production capacity surpassing more than 5 lakh per day."

"Similarly in the case of ventilators, within a very short span of time, indigenous production capacity has increased to 3 lakh per annum."

He further claimed that, in addition, India did not face any scarcity of medicines, prices of medicines remained stable throughout.

"This was achieved due to active cooperation among various Departments and agencies of the Central Government, State Governments and private sector," Gowda said.

Stressing on the need of development of indigenous capacity in Medical devices Shri Gowda said, "it is very important as it has a crucial role to play in improving accessibility and affordability of healthcare especially with respect to the availability of precision devices for screening and diagnosis, advanced surgical equipment needed for treatment, and devices for monitoring of health indicators, among others."

He further said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Department of Pharmaceuticals has taken several measures to create an enabling environment for the development of domestic capacity in the pharma and medical devices sector and has decided to support the development of three bulk drug parks and four medical devices parks across the country in coordination with State Governments and private sector.

The objective is to make India self-reliant in production of 53 critical APIs or Key Starting Materials (KSMs), and in the production of medical devices, for which India is crucially dependent upon imports.

Gowda said that he is very much sure that these parks will be able to attract significant investment as well as the latest technology.

"It is expected that these schemes of Union Government for development of bulk drug & medical device park will attract cumulative investment of Rs 78000 crore and can generate about 2.5 lakh employment," he said.