India Should Have Its Own Pharmaceutical Standards, Says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman advocates for India to establish a “Bharat Food and Drug Administration (FDA)” to set global standards for pharmaceutical products. 

Sitharaman was speaking at the 8th India Ideas Conclave in Bengaluru. The minister was suggesting the changes India should make to build its brand in the future for the globe. 

“India is setting standards in pharmaceuticals. The first thing all of us have to focus our attention on is you don't need a US FDA standard. You may take it very well because that helps you with exports. But,  can we in India not have a Bharat FDA," she said, adding, "Food and Drugs administration which can give global standards of benchmarks. If you reach that benchmark, your pharmaceutical products are going to be good enough, or even unsurpassed,” she said. 

Sitharaman further said that people outside India are willing to recognize the brand of India, which dominated in science. She took the example of Austrian-Irish physicist Erwin Schrödinger, who had said that most of his ideas and theories were heavily influenced by Vedanta. “We need to continue with it, and Brand Bharat should speak for excellence in science and, of course, now technology,” she said. 

The minister also said that India should use the advent of quick commerce to brand India as a destination of innovative solutions. “Our gig economy startups, especially quick commerce, for instance, are truly one of the kinds of innovation that only India has. Use this to brand India as a destination of innovative solutions to modern urban needs,” she said.

This will serve as an incentive or call to scale up internationally, catapulting Indian enterprises with a strong Bharatiya identity to become some of the biggest players in the international tech business space, she further said. 

However, the advent of this does not mean brick-and-mortar shops are not doing well. While they are being challenged by quick commerce, they need to be supported, the minister added.