Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:
(a) the details of medical services and drugs imported during the last three years;
(b) whether the Government is planning to take special policy measures to reduce dependence on import of drugs and if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government is planning to make special provision for drugs under ‘Make in India’ Program; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)
(a): The details of drugs imported during the last three financial years and the current financial year (upto October 2018), principal commodity wise, are annexed.
(b) to (d): The Government formulates the policies from time to time to reduce country’s dependence on imports. In this direction, the Government had on 29.01.2016 notified the withdrawal of exemption in custom duties which were earlier given to certain categories of drugs and bulk drugs to provide a boost to the domestic manufacturers.
Further, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has taken various measures to streamline the regulatory process to achieve the mission of “Make in India” with assurance of safety , efficacy and quality of drugs manufactured/marketed in the country. These include perpetual validity of manufacturing and sale licenses subject to certain conditions, implementation of e-governance in Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) through SUGAM portal, measures to promote scientific and ethical clinical trials in the country, guidelines for similar biologics, framing and implementation of Medical Device Rules 2017, increase in the validity period of Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP) under WHO GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) certification scheme, waiver of the requirement of NOC from CDSCO port offices for export purposes, and delegation of powers to State/UT Drug Controllers for issuance of NOC with respect to unapproved drugs for export purposes only.