Posted on 16 November 2011

The chemists across the state have planned to come together and sell their medicines to the consumers directly. This will ensure that there are no chains of distributers and the medicines are sold directly to the customers. The customers will also get medicines at lesser prices.

Almost 40,000 druggists and chemists from all over Maharashtra State have joined hands to form a company called Maharashtra State Chemists & Druggists Associations or MSCDA Limited. This company is in the process of setting up their own retail chains. These chains would sell drugs, medicines, and cosmetics. This company will buy the drugs and medicines directly from the manufacturers and sell them in their retail chains.

Mahendra Patilya, the coordinator of the Chemists Association of Pune District says that “The survey for opening the retail chain is on and it is expected that the stores will come at about by the end of December.” In the first phase, the company plans to open about 500 retail drug stores. Apart from selling various products, these chains will also provide counseling to the customers. If these retail chains are successful in the Maharashtra State, the company will go ahead to open retail stores in other states across the country.

The president of the All India Organization of Chemists & Druggists (AIOCD), Jagannath Shinde said that there are more than five chemists in the country, the state comprises of about 40,000 chemists. Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad area have about 2,000 chemists and druggists, and Pune district has about 3,500 chemists and druggists. The business in medicines accounts for about 1,000 crore in Maharashtra State; this is about 18 percent of the business in the entire country.

The MSCDA was formed about two years ago when three chemists of the state joined hands, and there retail chains were already selling drugs. AIOCD says that the retailers might have lost their business if such retail chains came up. But the AIOCD wants to protect the interests of the drug retailers. Shinde said that they can do so only if they centralize the purchase of medicines.

If these retail stores come up in the city, the citizens will definitely get a discount when they buy medicines. In the times when the cost of all the commodities is increasing constantly, this will bring some relief to people.