The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India is planning to make non-prescription drugs made available through post offices in select districts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh on a pilot basis soon.

The organisation expects to kick start the process in six months, Ranjit Shahani, former president, OPPI said.

Speaking to media on the sidelines of India Economic Summit organised by Confederation of Indian Industry and World Economic Forum here today, Shahani said that OPPI has approached the Planning Commission with its proposal.

"The Planning Commission is considering our proposal. The implementation of this proposal requires clearances from several ministries", he said.

Interestingly, OPPI has been proposing this idea for years now. The delay, according to Shahani, is caused due to the lack of coordination among ministries of Post and Telegraphs, Health and Chemicals and Fertiliser, as medicines distributed through post offices involves all three ministries.

OPPI idea was to use the huge, country wide network of post offices to make non-prescription or Over the Counter (OTC) drugs available in every nook and corner of the country.

Shahani said that he has made a similar proposal to Pepsi global head also to see that their sales points can be turned into OTC drug selling centres.