Make next 10 years 'the decade of India': Piyush Goyal to pharma firms

Coining a new acronym, Goyal said the world today needs CURE - Cost-effective Uni­ve­rsal solutions through Research and Enterprise

The past few years have been a golden period for health ca­re, and the industry should strive to make the next 10 ye­ars “the decade of India”, said Commerce and Industry Mi­n­ister Piyush Goyal on Thursday.

 

Till 2030, the entire world should be driven by Indian quality standards, regulatory processes, and manufacturing practices, he said at the International Conf­erence on Pharmaceuticals and Medical organised by industry body Ficci.

 

Coining a new acronym, he said the world today needs CURE — Cost-effective Uni­ve­rsal solutions through Research and Enterprise. “If we take it upon ourselves that India is going to cure the world, I see no limitations in our ability to aspire to bec­ome a world dominant leader in the field of medtech, pharmaceuticals, medical dev­i­ces, and health care providers.”

 

The country would alw­ays be indebted to the Indian pharma industry, often called the pharmacy of the world, for its contribution in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, Goyal said. The three Vs that the industry has provided to the world, and to India — ventilators, vaccines, and the V-shaped recovery in India’s economy — are reflective of the industry’s strength.

 

WTO waiver for easy vaccine access

 

Goyal said India’s proposal at the World Trade Organi­zation (WTO) for trade-related asp­ects of intellectual property rights waiver to allow more countries to get equitable access to Covid-19 vaccine is getting support from other nations. India along with South Africa had introduced a proposal in October 2020 for waiving the intellectual property rights regime so that mo­re countries get equitable acc­ess to medicines, Goyal said.