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 The Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (KDPMA) has urged the Karnataka government to prioritize the establishment of a dedicated Pharma Park in the state. Emphasizing its potential to boost the pharmaceutical industry, KDPMA has also urged the state government to integrate its 350 companies into the state’s broader biotech sector of 800 companies that include bio-pharma, bio IT, bio-services, bio industrial and bio agri. Such a strategic move, the Association contends, will enhance innovation, foster growth, and position Karnataka as a leading hub for both pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industries.
In a representation to the Karnataka health and family welfare minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on October 3, 2025, Jatish N Sheth, president KDPMA and director Srushti Pharma said that there is an urgent need for a dedicated pharma policy and a Pharma Park to be set up at Tumkuru which is an emerging industrial hub in India. It is also an upcoming industrial corridor and a Japanese township.
Tumkuru is coming under the newly created Greater Bengaluru Authority, the erstwhile Bengaluru Bruhat Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Further, Tumkuru is already included in the Union government’s Smart Cities Mission list as among the 100 to be developed in India. Since 28th August, 2010, Tumkuru has been accorded the status of a city corporation. Besides from a workforce accessibility point of view, the Green Line of the Bengaluru Namma Metro extension is planned to connect with Tumkuru after 2030.
Our pharma industry in Karnataka needs a pragmatic industry-friendly policy on similar lines implemented by the governments of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to boost the growth of the sector, he added.
Karnataka government has allotted approximately 10,800 acres of land for an industrial area near Tumukuru. Now at least 250 acres of this could be allotted for the formation of a Pharma Park which will help innovation, R&D and manufacturing, bringing the much-needed investment into Karnataka, Sheth said in his communication.
There is also an urgent need to streamline the operational structure of the Karnataka State Medical Supply Corporation, particularly in areas such as medicine distribution, payment processes, blacklisting procedures, and the procurement of innovative drugs which is now being looked into, he stated.
Justifying the need to include Karnataka pharma sector with the biotechnology sector, Sheth said that the state is referred to as the IT/BT and start-up capital of India. It would significantly boost innovation if our pharmaceutical sector could be included or aligned with the biotechnology sector as it will go a long way in strengthening the intellectual capital among others.
Delving on to hard core issues of the latest CDSCO circular on suspension of license of manufacturing units whose products, post sampling and testing, have been declared Not-of-Standard Quality (NSQ), the KDPMA president said that this ultra vires the existing Drugs & Cosmetic Act & Rules and is detrimental to the industry. Also, Karnataka reported the lowest incidence NSQs in India which speaks volumes about quality norms followed by pharma companies in the state.
On the other issue of No Objection Certificate for exports, Sheth said that it was hampering dispatch of global orders resulting cancellation of purchase. Exports are done post registration of all requisite documents with the authorities in the country of import. New procedures for export of finished formulation and APIs are superfluous causing hardship for the exporters giving undue advantage to other South East Asian countries which are competing in the same market, said Sheth adding that the state government will need to intervene in a time-bound manner.
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