Indian traders eye joint venture partners in manufacturing, mining, pharmaceuticals

A visiting Indian investment mission has expressed interest in entering into joint ventures with Filipino partners in mining, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

According to Vijay S. Hede, head of Indian investment mission and chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industries of Goa, Indian firms are looking for Filipino partners in the field of mining, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

Hede admitted that there is a shortage of iron ore in India.

According to Hede one Indian firm is looking at partnering with Abra Mining to put a company that would mine iron ore.

Indian pharmaceuticals firms, Hede said, are also looking for Filipino joint venture partners for the distribution of cheap Indian-manufactured drugs.

Hede pointed out that there is a big gap between the price of medicines manufactured by the big multinational pharmaceutical firms and Indian drug manufacturers.

"Indian drug manufacturers, can provide drugs at a lower price," Hede said.

Kaprl Kare, deputy managing director of the Indian KARE Group, said they are looking for Filipino partners to distribute their drugs.

The KARE Group, Kare said, are already in talks with PITC for the distribution of their drugs.

Kare said that India could offer lower prices because it has a very competitive pharmaceutical industry.

Indian pharmaceutical firms manufacture mostly generic medicines which are at least 50 percent cheaper than MNC-manufactured drugs.

The Indian firms are more interested in distribution deals since it does not make sense to manufacture drugs in the Philippines because most of the raw materials are cheaper in India.

Another members of the visiting Indian delegation, Prakash Jalan, director of Linc Pen & Plastic Ltd., said that his firm wants to put up a plant in First Philippine Industrial Park in Sto. Tomas, Batangas to produce writing pens.

Linc is now looking for local partners.

Jalan disclosed that the minimum investment needed for a plant that would produce 500,000 pens a day is $1 million.

The plant would manufacture pens of which 30 percent would be for the domestic market, while 70 percent of the production would be for export to the United States and the United Kingdom.

Linc has actually made a feasibility study and the two top choices for the investment site is China and the Philippines.

However, Jalan admitted that China seems to have uncertain policies that changes every month.

Linc hopes to put up the plant by 2006.

The plant would initially produce 500,000 pens a day and could result in employment for 500 Filipino workers.