Pharma industry can exploit Niper, Mihan together

Nagpur: The city can boast of several manufacturing units and well-established brands of medicines. Most of these, however, deal in Ayurvedic and herbal products. It is only recently that a major pharmaceutical company, Lupin, has opened a unit at Nagpur. National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Niper) coming up in the city could encourage more such companies to operate from Vidarbha.
“Around 40% students become medical representatives, going into marketing or retail. Same number of students opt for post-graduation. The others go into something entirely different or in an interdisciplinary career. Most of these students move out in search of places that offer better research facilities, better placements and higher pay scales,” said Ravi Kalsait, a teacher in Kamptee’s Kishoritai Bhoyar College of Pharmacy. He also said that pharmacists here have been trying to project the region as a pharma hub by means of conferences, where they invite representatives from various companies to the city.
Presence of a national level institute like Niper would mean better facilities, faculty and research in the city, which would automatically attract big companies, believes BK Shrikhande, president of research and development at Baidyanath Limited.
“Availability of skilled manpower and Mihan would make them more confident to invest in the area. Pharma is a knowledge-based industry in which intelligence quotient and skill sets are very important. There is also scope for pharmacy students in fields like IT, pharmacology, pharmacovigilance etc,” he said.
He added that once the industry here is mature and the atmosphere is conducive, the more talented among the students can even come up with their own pharma-based start-ups.
A postgraduate student of Nagpur University’s department of pharmacy, Swapnil Kale feels that even students who are not in Niper will benefit from the institute. “With such a reputed institution in the city, several big companies will come for campus placements here. When they do, it wouldn’t be just for Niper, they will also visit other colleges, giving the city a name for at least providing quality manpower to the industry,” he said.