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P.T. Jyothi Datta

New Delhi , Oct. 20

THE domestic pharmaceutical industry is smarting, since a Rs 150-crore fund proposed by the Centre to support the industry's research and development (R&D) initiatives is yet to take off, after three years and as many Budgets having passed since the announcement was made in the Union Budget of 2000-01.

Senior representatives of the pharma industry are believed to have recently met officials in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to express their sentiments on the issue, industry representatives told Business Line.

"What seems to have raised the hackles of industry is that, despite the commitment made by the then Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, to set up an R&D fund of Rs 150 crore, to be scaled up every year to touch Rs 750 crore in five years — even the first tranche has not been made available to the industry.

Further, there has been a suggestion from the Ministry of Science and Technology that only the interest from the fund be extended for R&D efforts - this translates to about Rs 9 crore per year," the industry official said.

In its meeting with PMO representatives, pharma top brass is said to have pointed out that "if only the interest was being made available for R&D, then it would not be of any utility. The industry has urged the Government to fulfil its initial commitments (of Rs 150 crore per year) to the industry and outline how to disburse the fund and expedite the process."

Responding to a query, Dr R.A. Mashelkar, Director-General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), admitted that the industry had expressed its views on the modalities to operate the fund. He said that this was a follow-up of an earlier meeting by the Task Force on Pharmaceutical and Knowledge-based industries, headed by the Union HRD and Science & Technology (S&T) Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi. "The situation at present is that the committee under Dr Joshi will now take a view on the issue," Dr Mashelkar said.

The R&D fund was a follow-through of the Mashelkar Committee report on pharmaceuticals, which envisaged Government support for the industry, even as it sought greater participation from the corporate sector in terms of research commitments.

The task force under Dr Joshi was set up by the Prime Minister and comprises a host of officials from relevant ministries such as Chemicals and Fertilisers, Finance, S&T and Health, besides industry representatives, Mr D.S. Brar, Dr Anji Reddy and Mr Ajay Piramal.

"The Rs 150-crore fund, however, has had a roller-coaster ride, ever since it was announced in 2000-01 — first in terms of who would operate the fund, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertiliser or the Ministry of Science and Technology. Subsequently came issues of how the fund would be disbursed and to which companies. And now comes the issue of how much money would be made available in the first place," observe industry officials.

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