Import of raw material 10 Chinese drug Companies has been banned by the country’s drug regulator. According to some sources, Companies which are supplying products without having the mandatory drug manufacturing standards are banned from importing raw material.

This step could lead to shortage of a few drugs, which are manufactured with the help of inputs which these Companies supply. Last week, the Drug Controller General of India cancelled the registration of the Chinese firms.

Raw material which is banned from importing into India includes clotrimazole, mefenamic acid and sulphadoxine that are used to make anti-infective and painkillers. An industry executive said, “A limited number of Chinese Companies supply some of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) so there can be shortage for that particular lot”.

Lalit Kumar Jain, Chairman at SMPIC, an Association of small drug makers added that local API Companies will get the opportunity to increase sales.

Indian drug Companies rely on imports from China for APIs, which is the fundamental chemical used to make medicines and intermediates. About 58,000 crore medicines are sold in India and medicines worth Rs 42,000 crore are exported from India.

The Chinese Companies had failed to submit proper good manufacturing practices (GMP) certificates, DCGI found during the scrutiny. DCGI has taken action against Chinese Companies for the first time.