Dinesh Thakur, who exposed dangerous practices in generic drug industry in 2013, is accusing the drug regulators of failing to enforce safety rules in the $15 billion industry.

The deal increases Munich Re's holding in Apollo Munich to nearly 48.75 per cent, with 51.1 per cent held by Apollo Hospitals, and the rest by employees. The move is aimed at increasing the German firm's business in India, which it said is \"one of it key markets.\"

Net profit rose 44 per cent to Rs 431 crore ($65.56 million) in the quarter ended September, Cipla said in a statement on Thursday. But it was below analysts' average estimate of Rs 484 crore, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The Indian unit of the Anglo-Dutch consumer group Unilever Plc posted a net profit of Rs 9.62 billion ($147.9 million), down from Rs 9.88 billion a year earlier. Net sales rose 5 per cent to Rs 78.20 billion.

Healthcare provider Apollo Hospitals Enterprise plans to start online drug sales in India, while Zigy, and Sequoia Capital-backed 1 mg already have e-pharmacies to tap a retail market IMS Health says is worth about $13 billion.

The move comes as a setback to SPARC, the research arm of India's largest drugmaker, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. The drug, Elepsia XR, was its first to receive an FDA approval.

Excluding India, emerging markets account for about a quarter of Glenmark's total sales, and have been a driver of margin growth in the last few years.

Following the completion of the Ranbaxy acquisition in March this year, Sun Pharma last month reported one-off integration-related costs of Rs 685 crore ($102.86 million) for the quarter ended June.

In May, Nestle was at the centre of the country's worst packaged food scare in a decade, when local regulators reported some packets of the popular noodles, sold at roadside stalls across India, contained unsafe levels of lead.

Sun Pharma said its profit could be hurt due to \"certain expenses/charges arising out of integration as well as remedial actions.\"

The move impacts multinational drugmakers, like Abbott Laboratories and GlaxoSmithKline, and a number of local firms, including Lupin, Cadila Healthcare and, all of whom sell drugs added to the list.

The smaller generic drugmakers, struggling to cope with a bruised reputation and tougher regulation in the United States, are under pressure to consider branching out to new, less-profitable markets

The policy document, welcomed by many in the industry despite concerns over a lack of detail, also outlines plans to boost local manufacturing and reduce reliance on imports.

More than a third of India's 2.1 million HIV/AIDS patients depend on getting their daily antiretrovirals for free from state-run distribution centres.

\"The fact that you actually come for surgery or medical treatment would be an incidental part of the experience,\" ABV Group Chief Executive Advet Bhambhani told Reuters.

Mahindra and Mahindra said on Thursday it would buy a 33 per cent voting stake in the agricultural machinery-making unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for $25 million.

The court has, however, allowed Glenmark to continue to sell existing inventory, the sources said.

Ranbaxy filed \"grossly inadequate\" applications seeking approval for its drugs and deceived the FDA into granting approvals and giving the company market exclusivity.

Almost two-thirds of the drug combinations widely sold in India to fight pain, depression, and psychotic conditions lack the necessary regulatory approvals, a study published on Tuesday shows.

Investment bankers say on the radar are US and European companies that develop biosimilars - cheaper copies of biotech drugs.