Solan: The pharmaceutical industry has shown some signs of revival with the introduction of the GST from July 1 in Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) which has about 350 pharmaceutical and cosmetic units.

Solan: The pharmaceutical industry has shown some signs of revival with the introduction of the GST from July 1 in Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) which has about 350 pharmaceutical and cosmetic units.

Several units, which had scaled down its manufacturing operations, has begun production and officials said the productivity would pick up. According to an estimate, the production has dipped 20 per cent and the units, whose central excise exemption lapsed, had curtailed their production. Big units had also taken over smaller ones which enjoyed the benefits of various exemptions though the number of units enjoying various exemptions was now 90.

Several key units had also expanded their capacities like Acme Formulations, Dr Reddy’s Lab, USB, Aishwarya Heath Care, Indoco Remedies, Hetero Labs, L’Oreal, Lotus Colour Cosmetics, etc.

Investors have resumed production in their closed units as the rate of taxes has become uniform, confirmed Arun Rawat, a pharmaceutical entrepreneur at Baddi and former chairman CII, Himachal. He added that since the lapse of the excise exemption had led to a major dip in the orders due to added cost of production, several units had become unproductive assets.