In a statement laid in the Lok Sabha, Minister of Chemicals, Steel and Fertilisers Ram Vilas Paswan said the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under Drugs and Pharmaceutical Research Programme would provide soft loans of Rs 100 crore.
He said Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) would continue to carry out new drug development in parasitic and microbial diseases, anti-cancer, diabetes and asthma among others.
The Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals would assist National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research to carry out R&D activity for diabetes, tuberculosis, malaria and leishmaniasis among others, as per the statement.
Department of biotechnology would promote research in biotechnological drugs including vaccine development.
Paswan said last fiscal, government invested Rs 227 crore for research and development in the drug and pharma space.
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The DST and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) invested Rs 118 crore and 59.91 crore respectively last fiscal. While DSIR invested Rs 2.3 crore last fiscal, the department of biotechnology spent Rs 38.18 crore, according to the statement.