India will submit a 'status report' on the progress it has made on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement during the last year to the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
Disinvestment proceeds of the government could be higher than the estimate of Rs 25,000 crore for 2009-10. The government has already raised Rs 13,621 crore through disinvestment in four public sector companies.Dilution of stake in National Mineral Development Corporation, the fifth public sector undertaking to come out with a public offer this year, is likely to fetch the government more than the remaining Rs 11,388 crore, thereby exceeding even the revised target.
In addition to the US drug regulator, Food and Drug Administration, and rival pharma majors that appear keen to launch litigation against Indian company Ranbaxy, a US citizen has joined the bandwagon by filing a case in the world's biggest drug market.
Glaxo wants to obtain trademark rights for 'Volmax', the brand name of its respiratory medicine.
While the manufacturers want higher Customs duty to make imports costlier and encourage the domestic industry, the department has called for a reduction in the duty to bring down the cost of imported devices.
In December last year, the finance ministry had asked five state-run banks -- Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India -- to explore merger opportunities in the banking industry.
Multinational drug companies with research interests in India may soon find the market more lucrative. The government plans to revive, and may extend to foreign companies, the income-tax exemptions enjoyed by Indian research and development pharma companies till 2007.
The government may take the first step towards fiscal consolidation in Budget 2010-11 by partially rolling back tax cuts given to the industry last year. The service tax rate may be restored to 12 per cent, while excise duty could be increased marginally.
The pre-Budget memoranda of the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry have said more incentives are needed to spur drug research.
The ministry of urban development has asked the finance ministry to lower the duty in order to promote the public transportation system in the country.
As drug multinationals from the United States demand a stronger intellectual property regime that gives exclusive marketing rights for their patented medicines in India, their own government has said the IP system is partly responsible for the extraordinary increase in prices for some medicines in the US.
Although India's exports have started growing again after several months of decline, commerce ministry sources told Business Standard that the extension is being considered to sustain growth and stabilise it at 15 to 20 per cent.
Over 20 drug companies marketing anti-obesity drug sibutramine under a variety of brand names are likely to soon face a ban on selling the medicine.
Indian pharmaceutical companies, which are increasingly choosing to settle patent litigation with global drug majors in the US, would have to be more cautious now.
One of the most favoured duty reimbursement schemes among exporters - the Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) scheme - is likely to be scrapped, as the government gears up to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1.
The government may take the first step towards fiscal consolidation in Budget 2010-11 by partially rolling back tax cuts given to the industry last year. The service tax rate may be restored to 12 per cent, while excise duty could be increased marginally.
Pharmaceutical patents are just over a fourth of all patents granted in the country, but domestic drug makers account for almost all post-grant patent opposition filed, official data reveals.
The Indian Banks' Association recently mooted a proposal for a centralised admission test for commercial banks in the country.
There has been a sharp increase in the number of graduates who want to qualify as patent agents -- the intermediates between patent applicants and the patent office. Over 2,000 persons will appear for the national level examination conducted by the patent office that qualifies graduates to work as patent agents later this month. This is a five-fold increase over the number of applications that had reached the patent office last year.
India's product patent regime for drugs, which is now five years old, is set to enter a phase in which there will be a distinct change in the kind of patents sought as well as patent challenges, say officials and industry experts.
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