Indian pharma and healthcare sectors look for supportive policies, simplified regulations and GST norms. This according to them will give a fillip to the growth of these sectors. Hence they are looking up to the Union Budget 2023 to fulfil their expectations. Sudarshan Jain, secretary general, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, said measures to facilitate the ease of doing business will increase investment and contribute to the industry's long-term growth. In accordance with the ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’: One Earth, One Family, One Future principle, the industry is poised to shift from ‘Make in India’ to "Discover and Make in India’. We are looking forward to the Union government for support in this. The Indian pharma is a sunrise sector. The Union Budget 2023-2024 should help fuel innovation and R&D, which will set the pace to propel pharmaceutical industry forward. The budget should outline supportive policies, simplified regulations, and simple GST norms to aid in the development of industry, he added. Chiming in on a similar note was Dr. Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, senior vice president, Nathealth and MD & CEO, Fortis Healthcare who said, “India is amongst the most preferred destinations globally for medical tourism and therefore, increased policy support is required to encourage, facilitate medical value travel (MVT) to India, and develop it as an organized sector. Another critical area is addressing the shortage of healthcare professionals by identifying doctors, nurses and technical staff willing to work in Tier 2/3 cities and looking at non-traditional ways to double the number of doctors. “We should look at best practices adopted in universities abroad: summer admission pattern to increase seats in existing medical colleges. Further, the sector needs lower cost financing through tax incentives for both existing and new healthcare projects. For new projects, the government should provide tax holiday period of 15 years and for existing projects, tax relief for 10 years as re-investment support. Declaring healthcare as a National Priority Sector and classifying it on the same lines as agriculture: priority-sector lending, will give banks the flexibility to lend to private healthcare institutions, on longer tenures, at lower rates,” noted Dr Raghuvanshi. Pointing out that it is imperative to build infrastructural capabilities so that people have greater access to quality and critical healthcare services, Dr. Shravan Subramanyam, president, Nathealth said, “Viability gap funding by the Government is essential to set up hospitals in tier-1 and tier-2 cities, encouraging increased investment in the healthcare infrastructure. Uniform adoption of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is another imperative which call for clearly defined delivery models for innovative modules developed by private players.” We are also witnessing a significant impact on cost of running business which will affect sustainability of MedTech organizations. If all payment backlogs both for providers and suppliers under insurance and public procurement are cleared, it would significantly improve the availability of healthcare infrastructure. As we prepare for the post-pandemic era, stable policy frameworks and incentives to help the healthcare sector remain viable- investment via FDI (foreign direct investment), expanding reach, investing in technology and innovation, reinforcing patient safety and adding to the skilled professionals of India, said Dr Subramanyam.
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