The government
is targeting 1,200 technical collaborations between Japanese companies and
Indian investors for over Rs 42,000 crore, 200 joint ventures with overseas
investors for Rs 14,000 crore, and another Rs 14,000-crore investment from
about 50 multinational companies.
Image used for representational purpose. Photograph:
Babu / Reuters.
As India shifts its focus
to the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries amid the Covid-19
pandemic, it is actively reaching out to several countries, including Japan,
seeking to attract investments in manufacturing and joint venture projects,
according to officials and industry executives.
India sees an investment
potential of Rs 70,000 crore in the medical devices industry alone over the
next five years.
The government is targeting
1,200 technical collaborations between Japanese companies and Indian investors
for over Rs 42,000 crore, 200 joint ventures with overseas investors for Rs
14,000 crore, and another Rs 14,000-crore investment from about 50
multinational companies.
This was discussed during a
webinar organised by the Indian Embassy in Tokyo, along with the Department of
Pharmaceuticals, and it had over 150 participants from both countries.
P D Vaghela, secretary,
department of pharmaceuticals , who was also present in the webinar, said
Japanese companies were interested in investing in the API (active
pharmaceutical ingredient) space, and could also explore joint ventures in the
medical devices segment.
Speaking to Business
Standard, Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical
Alliance (IPA), said companies like Eisai Pharmaceuticals had been
operating in the country since the early 2000s and their experience had been
good.
“India can be a low-cost
manufacturing base for Japan. We have skilled manpower and at lower costs.
India is one of the largest suppliers of generic medicines to the US; it can do
the same for Japan,” Jain said.
He said partnerships or
investments could be in different kinds of projects. One is where a Japanese
company sets up a manufacturing base here for exporting to other countries, or
it can export to Japan. Secondly, they can also invest in Indian companies that
make drugs.
Moreover, with India’s
renewed focus on growing its API production, there are a lot of investment
opportunities for Japanese majors. Eisai, for example, makes APIs.
“The Indian government is
now offering production-linked incentives for large API production units and
this can be an area of collaboration,” Jain said.
The DoP secretary has asked
the Japanese industry to get in touch with the pharma bureau, set up to guide
potential investors. Last month, the medical devices industry here had
requested the Indian ambassador to invite the Japanese to shift factories from
China to India, informed Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator of the Association of
Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD).
Pharma majors like Sun
Pharma, Wockhardt, and Panacea Biotech were present in the webinar.
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