The Department of Science and Technology (DST) under Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Research Programme (DPRP), has been supporting R&D projects in modern Indian System of Medicines since 1994-95 as collaborative projects (public private partnership) and facility projects to academic institutions/national laboratories to cater to the needs of Indian Pharma Industries.
During 2004-05, DST extended support to Indian Pharma industry for R&D projects in drug development. From 2008-09 onwards, this programme is extending grants-in-aid to Indian pharmaceutical industries for clinical trials for neglected diseases such as Tuberculosis, Malaria, Kala-Azar, Filariasis, etc. The major objectives of the programme are:
- To synergise the strengths of publicly funded R&D institutions and Indian Pharmaceutical Industry
- To create an enabling infrastructure, mechanisms and linkages to facilitate new drug development;
- To stimulate skill development of human resources in R&D for drugs and pharmaceuticals; and
- To extend soft loan for Pharma industrial R&D projects.
In addition to the above, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) has been pursuing R&D activities in the domain of drugs and pharmaceuticals with the emphasis on affordable healthcare. Further, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been supporting research (in the area of pharma sector) through extramural research as adhoc projects, fellowship projects, Task Force projects and has established Centres of Advanced Research in Pre-clinical & Clinical Pharmacology with a view to setting up National facilities for the development of New Chemical entities.
Budget allocated to CDRI, Lucknow during the last three years and the current year is as below:
| Financial Year | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18* |
| Allocation (Rs in crore) |
179.789 | 179.130 | 160.497 | 66.788 |
| *Allocation till date | ||||
The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Sh Faggan Singh Kulaste stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.