The Finance Ministry may defer 10 proposals for FDI in pharmaceutical sector that are listed to be taken up at the FIPB meeting tomorrow, as the government is yet to review foreign investment policy in existing Indian drug companies.
Sources said “FDI in existing pharma companies related proposals would be deferred by the FIPB meeting scheduled for on Friday” as the current policy has not been reviewed after the DIPP raised concerns over the increasing number of takeovers of Indian firms by foreign drug makers. The 10 applications for FDI in pharma sector which are listed for FIPB meeting include proposals of US- based Mylan laboratories, Mumbai-based Ferring Therapeutics and Hyderabad-based Verdant life Sciences.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has raised concerns over a spate of acquisitions of domestic pharma firms by multinationals. It has sought the intervention of the Prime Minister's Office on this matter.