Changing Landscape: The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry from the lens of MSME’s

Micro, Small, and Medium Sized Enterprises, or MSMEs according to the Indian Government are the major contributing source of GDP and growth in the Pharmaceutical Industry. The sector contributes towards raising employment opportunities and accounts for a major share in the export markets. With the changing landscape of the industry and more MNCs investing in India, they need to work hard to match the scale of Production, Marketing, infrastructure, labor, design, and standardization. The government has introduced new schemes and policies to uplift the sector and move towards development yet there have been constant updations and frequent changes leading to unstable markets.

They have identified that the MSME needs different policies and regulations than the MNC though there are various parameters to be addressed that run parallel to these policies. Firstly, Frequent amendments and updates make it difficult to keep pace with. The constant change diverts attention from the core operation and creates a hindrance to growth and innovation. The lack of equal resources in terms of skilled manpower, infrastructure, and limited financial resources makes it difficult to adapt and decrease profitability with the decrease in growth parity with the larger companies. This also hinders the regular process of the supply chain like manufacturing, and packaging, causing delays and delivery issues, resulting in unsatisfied customer service.

India has been a leading country in terms of pharmaceutical export with the availability of affordable medicines across the globe, still, our research and developments are not at par with other leading countries like America and the UK. In the Indian Pharma sector, Msme greatly contributes while only a handful of these manufacturing units can afford research and development labs. The focus on compliance with ever-changing regulations can leave little room for investment in the research and development of new drugs or formulations. This limits their ability to compete with larger players with more resources.The complex and evolving regulatory environment makes scaling up operations and entering new markets difficult. The sudden shift also has a huge impact on decisions involving risks, providing an uneven playing field, with a significant advantage to the pharma giants.

Apart from these, certain challenges come with frequent changes in instability with pricing, quality standards, and export regulations, and with new policies coming up so frequently a lot of these still need to be discovered by a small-scale businessman, they need to reach out to consultants to understand which ends up adding additional costs. If appropriate time is provided for execution can make a huge difference with some help from government bodies. India is known as a young country and has the maximum number of students graduating in the pharmaceutical sector yet the absence of skilled labour and a gap with students needing to be made aware of the latest technology is also increasing. Lack of Awareness among small-scale businessmen and even trained employees. Due to all these parameters, the schemes that are meant for the MSME sector are not able to benefit the stakeholders.

The MSME sector has always been open to new things and has supported the government in all spheres and will continue doing that. Addressing these challenges shall broaden our reach and help us to grow collectively. These require a multi-pronged approach, involving proactive government measures, industry support, and a collective effort from MSMEs to stay informed, adaptable, and innovative. By working together, stakeholders can create a more enabling environment where MSMEs can thrive and contribute to the growth of the Indian pharma sector.