Boosting pharma research

Govt should not solely depend on monetary incentives

As reported by this newspaper, the government is in the process of introducing a research-linked incentive (RLI) scheme for the pharmaceutical sector on the lines of the production-linked incentive (PLI) system that has been put into place for several other high-tech or economically important sectors. Details are not publicly available about what this scheme will look like. However, what is known is that the private sector has been consulted on the proposed RLI, and that specific areas within the pharma sector — including antibiotics and biosimilars — will be targets for the scheme.

In broad terms, this scheme is welcome as