D V Sadananda Gowda, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt of India today said that the Indian pharmaceuticals and medical devices sector has the potential to become the world leader and government will provide all necessary support.

Speaking at 'India Pharma and India Medical Device 2020', organized by FICCI, jointly with the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt of India, Mr Gowda said, "India today is a major hub for medical devices and diagnostics. There has to be certain interventions by the government as far as polices are concerned."

He said that affordability of the medicines is one of the prime concerns of the society. "In developing countries where a large section of population is poor and out of pocket expenses are very high, affordability of the medicines is one of the prime concerns of the society," he added.

Gowda emphasized that government is making all efforts to boost the Indian pharma and medical devices sector. He said, ?????????In countries where R&D are taken care of, where academia and industry collaborate in order to build a strong R&D eco-system. In India, we need to follow this. Government has initiated various steps for strengthening the Indian pharma and medical devices sector, he added.

Speaking on the COVID-19, he said that it is challenging times and we should all stand together at this time. Govt has and is taking all necessary steps in this direction.

"There is no shortage of medicines. We have sufficient medicines and sufficient APIs so that for another three months to ensure there is no shortage in producing medicines," he said. 

Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister, Gujarat while highlighting the state's contribution to the national GDP said that Gujarat is one of the few states in the country to provide all necessary support to strengthen the pharma and medical devices companies. He said that the state government is planning to come up with two dedicated parks, one for bulk drugs manufacturing and other for medical devices.

"In India, pharma and medical devices sector is growing rapidly. Gujarat has become a hub in manufacturing sector, agriculture and social sector. Now, Gujarat is ready to take the lead in pharmaceuticals and medical devices sector," added Mr Rupani.

Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State (I/C) for Shipping and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Govt of India said that today when the world is in recession, Indian pharma sector is growing at 10 percent and Indian medical devices sector is growing at 20-25 percent. "India has lot of opportunities and this is not only encashed by Indian companies, but also global players are also investing in these sectors," he added.

He further added that government is working on bringing new policy to strengthen the Indian API market.