The Indian active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) industry is annoyed over the central governments' lackadaisical attitude in solving several issues raised by the industry including levying anti-dumping duty for the bulk drugs imported from China and hike in the registration fees for pharma companies from China.

Industry sources said that the lack of commitment on the part of the union government to resolve the issues raised by the industry will prove to be detrimental to the growth of the API industry in India.

Now with China economic growth declining steadily over the last 18 months, together with the slump in global demand, the dragon land could now dump its APIs in India and even increase its product registrations in the country. The irony is that the government of India has levied a low registration cost of Rs.2,000 per product for pharma companies from China as compared to China which has imposes Rs.20,000 per product for Indian pharma companies.

The scene is dull and unpredictable for Indian API industry, Anjan K Roy, managing director, RL Fine Chem, and committee member, Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (KDPMA) told Pharmabiz.

The requests made to the government of India are now in vain. This is despite the fact that India’s strong strengths in chemistry, English speaking pool of experts and better quality of products, could allow the country to maximize its revenue generation prospects in China, he added.

In spite of the negative winds, several Indian companies including RL Fine Chem, IndSwift, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sun Pharma, among others have begun registration of products because of its strengths in documentation.

Industry sources stated that while China is far advanced in certain APIs in the antibiotics and vitamin space, India has the competence in new molecules particularly oncology and neuropsychiatry drugs which are the growth drivers in the global drug development space, said the RL Fine Chem chief.

Another issue is the lack of advanced infrastructure. The government has hardly supported the pharma sector for a dedicated API industry zone. Even if industry players have come together to scout for common pharma facilities at the state-level, they have given up for lack of clarity in land availability and hassles in land allocation.

In terms of production plant modernization and technology adoption, China is far ahead in infrastructure. India lags behind in modern industrial areas, environment controls and connectivity. Here the government is solely to be blamed, said industry sources. There is no strong industry association to lobby for our cause. Although, in the last few months Pharmexcil has taken up the onus to help address many of the issues, we need to see the developments that could come by, said Roy.

Indian API industry is valued at Rs.15,680 crore or $3.92 billion in 2010-11.