New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) The pharmaceutical industry on Wednesday hailed the Budget terming it a step in the right direction to promote research and innovation in the sector.

Sun Pharma Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi said the pharmaceutical industry's request to incentivise and encourage R&D investments has been granted.

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"The new Centres of Excellence programme, aimed to promote R&D in pharma, will encourage investment opportunities that will fuel innovation in the sector. It will not only begin to unleash the high potential of India's rich scientific talent, this will further encourage the industry to invest in R&D," the industry leader noted.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a new programme to promote research and innovation in pharmaceuticals which will be taken up through centres of excellence.

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Terming the budget as inclusive, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Chairman Satish Reddy said it will give a boost to critical areas such as education, agriculture, healthcare, environment, digital, startups and skilling.

"For pharma, announcements on a new programme to promote research and innovation through centres of excellence, collaboration with the ICMR laboratories, encouragement to investment in R&D point to much-anticipated support to innovation in pharma," he noted.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Chairman and Managing Director Glenn Saldanha said the announcement of a new programme for research and innovation through centres of excellence is a step in the right direction.

Having the impetus and encouragement from the government to invest in R&D will strengthen the industry's commitment towards innovation, he added.

Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said the increase in allocation of funds for pharma and healthcare this year is a step in the right direction.

"I welcome the introduction of a new programme for research and innovation in pharma through Centres of Excellence, which will enable the industry to invest more in R&D," she added.

Pfizer India Executive Director-Finance and CFO Milind Patil said there is a growing need for pharma companies to provide innovative solutions that can address the newer challenges that healthcare providers and patients are facing.

Introducing new programmes through various centres of excellences to promote research and innovation is crucial to bring quality treatments/medicines to patients, he added.

Hailing the proposal for the pharma industry, Akums Pharmaceutical Joint MD Sanjeev Jain noted: "We were expecting separate allocations for formulation and APIs. We await to see further details on this announcement."

Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) Secretary General Sudarshan Jain said the positive thrust on research and innovation is a welcome move to take India to the next level.

OPPI Director General Vivek Sehgal said the budget has brought much optimism to the healthcare and pharma sector by putting the focus on research and innovation.

The Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) Chairman Pavan Choudary said it was reassuring that the government is working on reducing the current gaps in availability of skilled healthcare workers.

The Finance Minister's announcement on dedicated multidisciplinary courses for medical devices would ensure availability of skilled manpower who can engage fluently with rapidly innovating medical technologies, he added.

Industry body NATHEALTH President Shravan Subramanyam said the skilling of healthcare nurses and allied workers has been a long-standing gap, hindering healthcare delivery expansion, and the Union Government has taken a step in the right direction to address this issue.

Fortis Healthcare MD & CEO Ashutosh Raghuvanshi said the announcement of dedicated multidisciplinary courses for medical devices in existing institutions to ensure the availability of skilled manpower for futuristic medical technologies and high-end manufacturing will play a pivotal role in strengthening the healthcare sector.

"Announcement of setting up 157 nursing colleges in the core locations of the existing 157 medical colleges is the step in the right direction at improving the nurse-patient ratio in the country," Aakash Healthcare Managing Director Aashish Chaudhry said.

Apollo Hospitals Group Founder Chairman Prathap C Reddy said the proposal to set up 157 new nursing colleges is a right step towards building a global workforce, to serve the world.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)