The Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) HAS conducted raids at three different locations in Vasai, Mumbai uncovering illegal drug manufacturing activities by Gaharwar Pharma Products Pvt. Ltd. The company, which holds a license to manufacture ayurvedic drugs in Haryana, was found to be operating without the necessary permissions at its facility.
Gaharwar Pharma Products was manufacturing drugs at Vasai using the license details from Haryana, despite having surrendered this loan license to the State Licensing Authority, Directorate of Ayush, on May 1, 2024.
Drugs purported to be manufactured in Haryana were allegedly sold to Onkar Pharma in Jalandhar, Punjab. However, it was discovered that Onkar Pharma was actually operating from Vasai, distributing drugs under invoices bearing a Jalandhar address.
Some drugs were found with the manufacturing address of Gaharwar Pharma in Navghar Vasai, with manufacturing dates of January 2024. The license at this location, originally granted to Rushabh Medicines, was canceled in 2022. The raid resulted in the seizure of ayurvedic drugs, raw materials, machinery, packing materials, labels, and pouches valued at approximately Rs. 1.41 crore.
Rushabh Medicine, a sister concern of Gaharwar Pharma, faced similar raids in March 2024 and in 2021 at their Indo Industrial Estate No. 1, Navghar Vasai (E) facility. Following the discovery of allopathy drugs in ayurvedic medicines, a prosecution was initiated, and their license was subsequently canceled.
The successful operation was led by drugs inspectors Yogendra Pol and Nitin Aher from Palghar, and Kailash Khapekar from Thane. They were supported by assistant commissioners Prakash Mhanwar, Mukund Donglikar, Deepka Malpure, Rohit Rathod, Mahesh Gadekar, Umesh Gharote, and a team of drug inspectors from Thane, Palghar, and Greater Mumbai, including Kishor Rajne, Shubhangi Bhujbal, Nitin Aher, Rakesh Edlawar, Yogendra Pol, Pravin Raut, Poonam Salgaonkar, Rajshree Shinde, Sunil Gawali, Premdas Sakhre, and Kailash Khapekar. Additional support was provided by assistant commissioner from Intelligence Bureau (IB) Mumbai, V R Ravi and drugs inspector from IB Mumbai Shashikant Yadav.
The raid was conducted under the instructions of FDA commissioner Abhimanyu Kale, Dr. Rahul Khade joint commissioner FDA Vigilance, Narendra Supe, joint commissioner, FDA Thane, and Vijay Jadhav joint commissioner FDA Greater Mumbai.
Further investigation is going on, and appropriate legal actions will be taken against the manufacturer upon the completion of the investigation. This operation underscores the FDA's commitment to ensuring the safety and integrity of drug manufacturing practices in the region.
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