Parliamentary panel asks CSIR to set specific targets to reduce pharmaceutical industry's dependence on imported raw materials

New Delhi: A parliamentary committee has asked the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to set short- and long-term targets for reducing the Indian pharmaceutical industry's dependence on imported raw materials from around 80 percent at present to 30-40 percent in the next five years. The Department-related Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, in its report, said it is fully aware of the current state of huge dependence of the Indian pharmaceutical industry on import of majority of raw materials.