‘Robust infra, increased R&D budget, skilled labour vital to improve exports’

Soumya Sinha, Director, Supply Chain & Logistics, Middle East & South Asia, Frost & Sullivan shares, “Indian medical equipment export performance is lagging as compared to other nations because of the underdeveloped infrastructure, lack of skilled workers, and low investments in Research and Development which limits further innovation. Hence focus should be on developing robust infrastructure, increasing the R&D budget, and training human resources. The Drug formulations category accounts for approximately 72% of the total pharmaceutical exports. Unfortunately, exports of bulk drugs are getting less importance by domestic pharma companies as their main focus is on manufacturing drug formulations. Due to this India depends heavily on the imports of bulk drugs (APIs) and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) from other countries. This is a huge challenge as the prices of these imports are on the rise.