Ashok Kumar, secretary of the Government Department of Pharmaceuticals told Livemint that: “We are currently in the process of making the proposal [which when finalised will be sent] to the Planning Commission for clearance.”
Kumar added that because most medium-scale drugmakers in India already comply with Schedule “M” of the country’s Drug and Cosmetics Act “it will not be very hard to get WHO GMP [good manufacturing practices] certification.”
The new scheme, outlined in a post on the Department of Pharmaceuticals’ website, would be similar to an existing subsidy programme available to small-scale pharma firms.
That programme offers such pharmaceutical producers a 15 per cent capital subsidy for manufacturing facility investment and equipment projects worth up to a maximum value of INR1m.