Health Min allocates ₹4,250 cr R&D push in pharma and MedTech for private sector, ₹700 cr for NIPERs.

In a bid to push research and innovation across pharma and medtech sector, the Health Ministry is planning to allocate ₹700 crore fund to set up seven Centres of Excellence across various National Institutes of Pharmaceutical, Education & Research (NIPER). Another ₹4,250 crore will be allocated to push research in private sector though milestone-based support, said Union Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya.
The Centre could also pick up equity, ranging from 5-10 per cent, across these private players against proposed fund allocation. The scheme will formally launched in September.
According to Mandaviya, the Union Cabinet approved the Promotion of Research & Innovation in Pharma-MedTech sector (PRIP) scheme with an outlay of ₹5,000 crore for five years, from 2023-24 to 2027-28. The scheme will be in two parts: preparing capacity in PSUs; provide support to private sector for research.
“In the US, nearly 25 per cent of profits of pharma companies are retained towards research and development. Against this, in India, the average research spend is 8 per cent. So it is important to push for research support in the private sector and this is where we thought of stepping in, make the sector attractive for investments and push innovation, new medicine development,” the Minister said.
HBL