The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry today is in the front rank of India’s science-based industries with wide ranging capabilities in the complex field of drug manufacture and technology. It ranks very high in the third world, in terms of technology, quality and range of medicines manufactured. From simple headache pills to sophisticated antibiotics and complex cardiac compounds, almost every type of medicine is now made indigenously. The Indian Pharmaceutical sector is highly fragmented with more than 20,000 registered units. It has expanded drastically in the last two decades. The leading 250 pharmaceutical companies control 70% of the market with market leader holding nearly 7% of the market share. It is an extremely fragmented market with severe price competition and government price control.
But when whole world is talking about sustainability and green business where Indian Pharma Industry lies. Environment is one of the major factors to achieve sustainability. We all know that we have already exploited the earth more than its carrying capacity. Now it’s time to pay back so that our future generation can thrive on what we will give them. When we talk about Indian Pharma Industry we will hear a few names that are actually doing their business in Eco- friendly ways. Every Pharma company is ISO: 9000 certified but no one looks forward to get an ISO: 14001 or ISO: 14000 certification though it is a voluntary activity except Ranbaxy which is no more an Indian company. Companies use to publish their annual reports, CSR activities, product launching news etc. that means we are not giving preferences to our environmental activities. During 1960-70, the term EHS came in trend and every company across the globe followed that, but the time has changed now when will we shift from safety auditing to sustainability auditing.
One of the best examples is “The Body Shop” dealing with formulation, manufacturing and retailing of various skin care products, Environment Management system of The Body Shop how they follow best standards always to maintain their EMS. Apart from that they have their own commitment and policies viz. Thinking globally, Achieving excellence, searching for sustainability, managing growth, Managing energy, managing waste, controlling pollution, operating safely, obeying the law and Rising awareness. Apart from that they have an excellent and decentralised Environment Auditing and Management system. And there are a lot of incidences which prove that The Body Shop has increased their revenues by relying on Renewable Energy and following eco friendly ways of doing business. Now question arises The Body Shop being a cosmetic company can do it why can’t we?
In Indian Pharmaceutical Industry, there are lots of medium and small scale units which are striving in market, they follow a lot of ways to increase their revenue but when it comes to environment they think that it will require funds to work on it while reality is something else which will be more clear by this example, Dow Chemical’s California complex scrubs hydrochloric gas with caustic to produce a wide range of chemicals. The company used to store the wastewater in evaporation ponds. Regulation called for Dow to close the evaporation ponds by 1988. In 1987, under pressure to comply with the new law, the company redesigned its production process. It reduced the use of caustic soda, decreasing caustic waste by 6,000 tons per year and hydrochloric acid waste by 80 tons per year. Dow also found that it could capture a portion of the waste stream for reuse as a raw material in other parts of the plant. Although it cost only $250,000 to implement, the process gave Dow an annual savings of $2.4 million. The world economy is in transition and it is the right time to prove ourselves on this issue. Our industry should think over major factors like Energy efficiency, Waste Management, product Stewardship, Life cycle assessment, Eco labelling and Environmental Reporting to find out the impact of industrial process on wild life, biodiversity, endangered habitats and Non renewable sources.
The key concept of Environment Management should be at the heart of Industry philosophy of business. A responsive and proactive approach to the environment requires us to examine new, innovative and radical approaches to doing business and there are several models which can help us. So it’s time for industry to measure its Ecological footprint so that “Ecology and Economy can prosper together”.
Article By,
Amit Maheshwari,
PGDFM 20011-13
Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal
