PV Appaji, Director General of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) informed that many Andhra Pradesh-based pharma companies preferred Western ports, mainly JNPT, to export their drugs.
This lead to a fall in drug volumes handled by ports in Andhra Pradesh. Pharma exports from ports in the state declined to 18 percent as compared to 22 percent in 2012, Appaji said at a seminar on exports growth in Andhra Pradesh.
This is despite the fact that Hyderabad is the largest exporter of bulk drugs in the country and is closer to ports such as Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Krishnapatnam.
He said the pharma exporters are reviewing the situation. There could be many factors that could have led to such a situation. First, the merchants who carry out the trade are mainly from Mumbai, which is why they would certainly go for Maharashtra ports, he informed.
Secondly, owing to power shortages, there might have been a shortfall in production this year from Hyderabad, which in turn could have led to low exports, he added.
Anil Yendluri, Chief Executive Officer of Krishnapatnam Port informed that though his port currently does not have the requisite permissions to export pharma products, it is trying to get those approvals.
Meanwhile, speaking at the inaugural session, Union minister of state for commerce and industry D Purandeswari, said that the central government will be reviewing certain Free Trade Agreements (FTA) but has not set any specific time-frame for the exercise.
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