Karnataka government is all set to provide a boost to the pharma sector in the state

Karnataka government is all set to provide a boost to the pharma sector in the state with cabinet approving a dedicated Pharmaceutical Policy. The Pharmaceutical Policy will become part of state's Industrial Policy as a separate chapter. The specific benefits extended to pharma sector are in addition to benefits under state's Industrial Policy. The government has now devised a three pronged approach to spur sustained growth in drug research, development and manufacturing space. It has now mooted creation of an incubation centre, financial assistance to students in Finishing Schools and incentives to industry to capture new opportunities.

The first initiative in this regard is by way of setting up an incubation centre within the 71 pharmacy colleges in the state. The government has consented to provide Rs. 2 crore to each of the colleges which have the infrastructure and personnel to man an incubators. The most likely takers for a start would be the Acharya & B M Reddy College of Pharmacy in Bengaluru, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences and JSS Pharmacy College of Pharmacy in Mysuru, according to officials familiar with the development.

There is a huge demand for incubators and with the Start-up India Policy, the focus is on innovation, fostering sustainable and scalable ventures. There are incubators established within the campuses of the Indian Institute of Science, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platform (C-CAMP) in the GKVK campus besides the Jawaharlal Centre for Advanced Research in Bengaluru which are largely dominated by biotech and med-tech entrepreneurs.

“But specific for the pharma industry, there is a need for a stand-alone incubator. The 71 pharmacy colleges generate around 11,000 pharmacy graduates annually and there is a perceptible interest for incubators to ignite the innovation spark, Harish K Jain, secretary, KDPMA and director, Embiotic Laboratories told Pharmabiz.

With a strategy to provide the pharma sector with industry ready candidates, the state government in principle has agreed to subsidize the fees to students in Finishing Schools to an extent of Rs. 10,000 per candidate. The current fees is about Rs. 20,000 and this will benefit existing institutes like the Pharmacy Training Institute in Bengaluru.

Particularly for the industry, the government will offer financial grants which is over and above the existing central government support. Further, the formation of a Vision Group for Pharmaceuticals is also underway.

The state pharma industry accounts for a total turnover of Rs. 12,000 crore of which exports accounts for Rs. 5,000 crore. The state exchequer receives around Rs. 500 crore from the pharma sector. These development initiatives together with the state’s access to talent pool would surely create a spurt in growth, noted Jain.


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