NEW DELHI: The government is mulling lifting of export restrictions imposed on 26 pharmaceutical products after drug manufacturers assured availability of adequate stocks of medicines to cater to local demand at least till May-June.In the wake of coronavirus outbreak in China – a major supplier of drug raw material or active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in medicines- the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had "restricted" export of 13 specified APIs and formulations containing these APIs from India with immediate effect through a notification on March 3.Senior representatives from major pharmaceutical companies along with industry associations had raised concerns about the move. On Monday, at a meeting with the expert committee set up to look into availability of medicines in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, the industry assured the government of “enough stocks”.“Around 50-60% production has resumed in China and the industry has informed us that it has an inventory for at least 70 days. Our earlier move was in public interest as we wanted to ensure that there is no shortage in the local market. We are not reviewing the current situation and may take a call soon based on the update,” a senior official told TOI.In a written submission to the government, the industry said “in case of any shortages developing unexpectedly, all production and sale of APIs and formulations will be restricted to domestic consumption only”.TOI has reviewed the submission.“Restrictions will lead to many Indian pharma companies getting black-listed from global tenders/contracts. This could have a negative effect on the nation’s economy and our companies will also lose opportunity to participate in future contracts/tenders,” Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA) said in a letter to department of pharmaceuticals and DGFT.The industry also raised concerns about stocks of medicines lying in the supply chain or at ports after the export ban as those medicines are not eligible for sale in India due to non-compliance of labelling standards. “Even if export is restricted, these products in the supply chain cannot be diverted to Indian market because they do not comply with Indian requirements. Hence, it would be a colossal national loss and wastage of good quality medicines,” an executive said.While the government’s initial move to restrict exports was aimed at avoiding any shortage of medicines in the local market due to ongoing lockdown in China's Hubei province – the epicentre of the outbreak— it is now considering to withdraw the notification as many other parts of China have resumed production.Before the outbreak, Hubei province alone accounted for 20-25% of the total API imports from China. This included some of the key ingredients including including antibiotics, hormones and vitamins.India imports around 80-85% of APIs from China. While some major pharma companies like Lupin, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories manufacture APIs locally for some medicines, but it is mostly for captive use.While local manufacturing for API has been unviable in India as China supplies them at 10-15% lower cost, a crisis in China poses potential threat to medicine supplies not only in India but across the world.The latest coronavirus outbreak has also put pressure on the government to work on the long pending API policy to revive local manufacturing of raw material.