In a relief to pharmaceutical firms, authorities have cleared shipments of raw materials from China, which were stalled for several days.
The customs department on June 30 cleared imports of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from China, Business Standard reported.
Imports from China had been stalled for a week due to strict scrutiny, causing the shipments to be halted at ports. Clearance of shipments will provide relief to pharma companies as more than 60 percent of APIs used in India come from China, the report said.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.
“Imports of APIs and shipments from AEO T3 importers have been exempt from the 100 percent check. The Indian pharma industry is heavily dependent on API imports from China and were facing a huge shortage of raw material. Besides, the tier 3 AEOs are top importers who meet the highest level of compliance, so they have been given the relaxation," a government official told the paper.
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All ports and airports were informally instructed to conduct thorough physical checks of shipments from China, the report said, adding that at Chennai and Visakhapatnam, officials were told to hold imports from China due to intelligence inputs that cited "illegal imports of narcotics."
The government has also given clearance to imports required for electronics and automobiles from companies such as LG, Samsung, Toyota, Honda, and Siemens, the report said. None of these companies are from China.
