The Centre has received multiple Expressions of Interest (EoIs) from bidders for acquiring Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation (IMPCL), a state-run ayurveda and unani medicines manufacturer.
The government holds 98.11% stake in IMPCL, under the administrative control of the ministry of Ayush. The remaining 1.89% is held by Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVNL), an undertaking of the government of Uttarakhand.
“Multiple Expressions of Interest (EoIs) received for the strategic disinvestment of Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation (IMPCL). The transaction will now move to the second stage,” Department of Investment and Public Asset Management secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on X.
The Centre intends to disinvest its entire stake in IMPCL with transfer of management control. The KMVNL has also expressed its willingness to disinvest, DIPAM had said in the preliminary information memorandum while inviting EoIs.
The company is presently manufacturing 656 classical ayurvedic, 332 unani and 71 proprietary ayurvedic medicines for a varied spectrum of diseases.
It supplies ayurveda and unani medicines to all the states under the National Ayush Mission (NAM) and 6,000 centres of Jan Aushadhi Kendras.
“The price/rate of IMPCL products are fixed by the government of India. Liberalised pricing policy post disinvestment combined with already laid down distribution network & payment collection mechanism may enable the company to compete with other market players more efficiently that may lead to increased sales and profitability,” the DIPAM had said.
As of March 31, 2022, the company had a paid-up share capital of Rs 51.98 crore. The total campus area of IMPCL is 35.81 acres in Almora, Uttarakhand.
IMPCL is a profit-making organisation since its inception. The profit before tax (PBT) of IMPCL was Rs 42.77 lakh during FY 2019-2020, which surged to Rs 45.41 crore for 2021-2022.