The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has announced on Friday that 55 companies have been selected for the PLI scheme in the pharma sector, which was approved on February 24, 2021. The Financial Outlay under the PLI scheme is Rs 15,000 crore, for which SIDBI is the Project Management Agency.
The ministry said that the Cabinet approval is in line with Atmanirbhar Bharat's strategy to improve India's manufacturing capabilities by increasing investment and production and boosting exports in 10 sectors.
The scheme aims to contribute to product diversification of high-value goods in the pharma sector.
One of the goals of the scheme is to create global champions from India who have the potential to grow in size and scale using cutting edge technology to penetrate the global value.
The ministry said chains were the mainstay of the ministry.
The guidelines for the scheme that invites applications from the pharma industry were issued on 01.06. The Pharmaceuticals Department talked to industry, related departments and NITI Aayog in the year 2021 after talks with industry, related departments and NITI Aayog.
The PLI scheme will give financial incentives on incremental sales of pharma goods and in-vitro diagnostic medical devices to selected applicants based on pre-defined selection criteria.
The incentives will be paid for a maximum of 6 years for each participant, depending on the threshold investments and sales criteria they'll achieve.
The ministry received a total of 278 applications, of which 55 applicants were to be selected. The scheme covers three different product categories for which applicants have applied.
Category one comprises biopharmaceuticals, complex generic drugs, patented drugs or drugs nearing patent expiry, cell-based or gene therapy drugs, orphan drugs, special empty capsules like HPMC, pullulan, enteric etc., complex excipients and phytopharmaceuticals.
Category two comprises active pharmaceutical ingredients key starting materials, drug intermediates covered by the earlier PLI scheme for APIs KSMs and DIs, which includes repurposed drugs, autoimmune drugs, anti-cancer drugs, psychotropic drugs, and anti-retroviral drugs, in vitro diagnostic devices, and other drugs not manufactured in India.