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Pharma industry is an unsung success story: Arun Jaitley

October 19, 2003 21:29 IST

Union Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said the Indian pharmaceutical industry signifying the country's mind power is an unsung success story.

Speaking at the concluding session of BJP Doctors Cell two-day national meet in Delhi, he countered the criticism that after 2005, only foreign medicines would be sold in the country saying, "It is now the other way round, Indian medicines are capturing global markets."

"I have met the representatives of Indian pharma companies in a number of countries and they are now dictating market forces in those economies. Indian companies are producing high-quality medicines and selling them at competitive prices."

They have forced US-based companies to cut down the prices of HIV medicines meant for Africa from $10,000 to $1,200.

"The prohibitive costs of medicines has now become an issue even in the US," Jaitley said adding the new world economic order would favour those economies that can offer quality output at lower costs.

Drawing attention to the fact that nearly 200 companies listed in the Fortune 500 list have set up research and development bases in India, Jaitley said it indicates the Indian economy's strength as a rich knowledge base.

"India would have the highest number of youthful brains by 2020," he said adding the country would be a much sought after destination for innovative minds.

Referring to tropical issues faced by doctors in India, the minister said legal provisions should not be a binding force for experimental treatments.

On India's strength in the medical profession, he said nearly 30 per cent of practicing medical professionals in the US are persons of Indian origin.

Indicating the strengths of the domestic health sector, the minister said the country earned 10 per cent of its total foreign exchange from the health sector.

The BRIC economic order - comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China - has the cost advantage in key economic sectors like manufacturing and health services. Predicting that India can double foreign earnings from the health sector in the next 3-4 years, Jaitley said, "We are able to provide health services at a fraction of costs abroad."

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