The government of India has cancelled the licenses of 18 pharma companies for manufacturing of spurious medicines following an inspection by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on 76 companies across 20 States, official sources have told news agency ANI.

Reportedly there is a huge crackdown underway on pharma companies across the country related to the manufacturing of spurious medicines, sources told ANI.

Reports say that the whip has been unleashed on 70 companies in Himachal Pradesh and 45 in Uttarakhand and 23 in Madhya Pradesh during the government's crackdown on companies manufacturing spurious medicines.

In India the rates of Substandard and Falsified (SF) medicine increased by 47 per cent during the year 2020-2021, a report tabled by Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) stated. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic incidents of SF drugs spiked relating to Covid products, subsuming vaccines, medicines, test kits, antibiotics, face masks and sanitisers. These incidents were reported in 23 different places in 29 States and 7 UTs. Globally during the pandemic, SF drugs saw a rise of 11 per cent, the report said.