CHAPTER I

HISTORY AND OVERVIEW

India’s traditions in the science of health and heating go back to the halcyon days of Susruta, Vaghatta and Charska. Our systems of medicine like Ayurveda were well established and schools and hospitals with treatises and instructions manual were in wide use.

The establishment of a modern pharmaceutical industry in India may be and to have commenced with the setting up of Bengal Chemicals by Acharya P.C. Ray in Calcutta and of Alembic Chemicals in Baroda, by B.D. Amin. Significants who helped the indigenous drug industry were the establishment of the Haffkine Institute in Bombay, the King Institute in Madras in 1904 and the Pasteur Institute in Coonoor in 1907.

  Post Independence Development

In the post-independence years, several international pharmaceutical companies have set up manufacturing facilities in the country.  Public sector units like HAL and IDPL were also set up.  The diversified character of the industry's growth is reflected in the range and variety of products manufactured. These cover a wide therapeutic spectrum ranging from antibiotics to vitamins.  The following table gives us a picture of the progress of drug industry in India.

   2. Drug Industry Overview