API supply disruption a challenge; US, India need to address problem, says Zydus group chairman

The supply disruption of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is not only posing a challenge for India but for the world due to dependency on China, and the problem needs to be addressed by the US and India, Zydus Group Chairman Pankaj Patel said on Tuesday.

Moreover to achieve the goal of a USD 5 trillion economy, India needs closer cooperation with the United States, he added.

"There is a kind of a challenge today regarding the APIs, as the whole world is depending on one source for a large number of APIs," Patel said.

So, there is a need to think about alternative sources of APIs, he added.

"The cost disadvantage which we have in India has actually made our industry which was making it go out of business. So, we have to think of product incentive schemes to move forward, so we can come back again in that area. More important is that it is a problem which is a world's problem," Patel said.

There should be a joint effort by the US and India to really address this issue in terms of creating additional capacity to make sure that abundant supply of the essential medicines is there, he added.

Highlighting the need for closer collaboration between the two countries, Patel said: "To achieve the goal of India becoming a USD 5 trillion economy, we need to have USD 1 trillion exports."
Speaking on the impact of supply of APIs for coronavirus outbreak in China for India, Patel told PTI, "API consignments have started coming from north China and though the consignments from Wuhan area are still not coming, the situation is also likely to improve in next few weeks."