Himachal lacks a fully equipped drug-testing laboratory even as it houses Asias biggest pharmaceutical hub in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) industrial belt.
The pace at which a new lab is being set up since 2017 speaks volumes about the concerns to promote quality drug manufacturing.
The Composite Testing Lab (CTL) at Kandaghat is the lone drug-testing lab in the state which caters to 690 pharmaceutical units and 5,500 sale premises.
The absence of facilities for testing injections, Microbiology-related tests as well as those using sophisticated equipment is a major handicap for the Drug Control Administration (DCA) in maintaining effective quality control. These tests are outsourced to other states. The lab which was set up in 1992 has failed to get any appreciable enhancement in equipment and staff, adversely hitting the working of the officials of the DCA.
The project was sanctioned under the Assistance to the States for Development of Export and Allied Activities Scheme of the Central Government and funds worth Rs 8.9 crore were supposed to be received. The scheme was, however, discontinued in 2014 and only Rs 3.25 crore were made available for this lab.