The Government has abolished industrial licensing for all bulk drugs, their formulations and their intermediates, except for five bulk drugs reserved for the public sector. The New Drug Policy, which was announced here by the Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mr. Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav, on Thursday, also said that drugs having an annual turnover limit of Rs. 4 crore or more would remain under price controls imposed by the Government. The policy also allows foreign equity participation of 51 per cent, automatic approval for foreign technology agreements, a uniform maximum allowable post-manufacturing expenses (MAPE) of 100 per cent for all drugs under price controls. Moreover, two new authorities — the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) and the National Drugs Authority (NDA) - would be set up to monitor the various aspects of the industry.

Guarantee pact for Enron signed

The counter-guarantee agreement for Enron’s power project at Dabhol in Maharashtra, the country’s first project under the private power development policy, has finally been signed. The counter-guarantee for the first phase (695 MW) of the project, which had been the subject of a raging controversy over the past few months, was signed here on Thursday between the Finance Secretary, Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on behalf of the Centre, and the Principal of Dabhol Power Company (DPC), Mr. Joseph Sutton, on behalf of the US promoters. The power project is being jointly promoted by Enron Corp, which has an 80 per cent stake, along with General Electric and Bechtel, with holdings of 10 per cent each.

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