BANGALORE: After a gap of 18 years, the biggest event of the pharmaceutical industry, the 63rd Indian Pharmaceutical Congress was inaugurated at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre on Friday.The three-day event organised by Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association, (IPCA) Karnataka, with the theme ‘Pharma Vision: India-The Pharma Powerhouse’, witnessed students, delegates, industrial pharmacists, researchers and regulators from various parts of the globe.Inaugurating the event, Medical Education Minister S A Ramdas said, “Indian Pharma Industry has come a long way since the last decade. The pharmaceutical industry which recorded a turnover of Rs 5,000 crore in 1990s crossed Rs 1 lakh crore in 2009-10. India has secured third place in terms in volume and 14th place in terms of value. We are emerging as an intellectual and powerhouse”.He further said, “There is a need to set up institutions of excellence in the state at the earliest. Karnataka is the only state in the country which has set up Pharmaceutical and Nursing Universities, which will be functioning from next year and our state is the pioneer in education system”.Subodh Priolkar, President of IPCA, who stressed the need to invest heavily in the drug discovery and treatment fields, said that there is an increased expenditure in upgrading and increasing the number of hospitals.Biocon Chairman and Managing Director, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said, “We should invest in growth areas like pharmaceuticals since it is one of the next big things for India. Time has come for us to go beyond generics.”She regretted that Karnataka is lagging behind in pharmaceuticals and opined that policies must be framed to make the state a leader in the field of pharmaceuticals.A souvenir and an abstract CD were released at the three-day event inaugurated on Friday.
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