India rejected 955 pharma patent applications in last 3 years: Sitharaman

The Dollar Business Bureau 

India has rejected 955 patent applications in the pharmaceutical sector during the last three years.

"... 618 applications have been rejected citing Section 3 (d) of the Patents Act, 1970, as one of the grounds for rejection in the last three years," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today.

"A total of 955 patent applications in pharma have been rejected by the Indian Patent Office (IPO) in the last three years," she said. 

Sitharaman said India is considered as a leading exporter and currently holds second position in outbound shipments of generic drugs. 

Replying to a separate query, the commerce minister said exports from SEZs have witnessed a slowdown due to the withdrawal of exemptions of minimum alternate tax, dividend distribution tax, SEZ’s uncertain fiscal regime and several global factors. The exports from SEZs grew only 0.77% to Rs.4.67 lakh crore in 2015-16. 

There have been so far 29 cases of fraud in the country’s SEZs segments, on which the concerned authorities have taken appropriate action, Sitharaman said. Some of these companies include Rajesh Exports, Sun Solution and Tata International. 

India has 204 functional and 226 non-functional SEZs.