SME Times News Bureau | 08 Mar, 2010
India ranks top in the world in exporting generic medicines worth of Rs 50,000 crore Union Minster of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Srikanta Jena said.  

The generic medicines are worth Rs 50,000 crore per annum, Jena said in Bhubaneshwar and at Khurdah, Orissa on Saturday. He was here to launch Jan Ausadhi Abhiyan, the National campaign to ensure universal reach of generic medicines across the population.

The generic drug sector in the country is populated by a large number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which form the core of the industry. Most of the SMEs are based in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry is one of the world's largest and most developed, the minister added.

The country, today, exports to more than 200 countries around the globe including the highly regulated markets of US, Europe, Japan and Australia. India exported drugs worth around $8 billion in 2008-09, most of which to the US and Europe, followed by Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa.

The quality of the medicines was being maintained with the help of the Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited, Jena said.

A generic drug is a drug which is produced and distributed without patent protection. It may still have a patent on the formulation but not on the active ingredient.