Currently, there are 39 licensed cosmetic manufacturers in Pune division, 13 of them are situated in rural parts.
As a result of upgrades in marketing techniques and the development of innovative cosmetics, the small towns and villages of Maharashtra have been increasingly investing in domestic products.
According to The Times of India, these developments have caused some problems in that small entrepreneurs are becoming manufacturers and producing cosmetics at cheaper rates and using ingredients of inferior quality in a bid to make some fast money.
"We have seized a stock of drugs and cosmetics worth Rs 18.44 lakh during our routine surveillance between April 2013 and March 2014. We have intensified our drive to detect more such erring cosmetic manufacturers, who are running the business without the mandatory licence under Drugs and Cosmetic Act 1940," Vinita Thomas, FDA assistant commissioner told the publication.
Crackdown
Meanwhile; the publication also reports a cosmetic manufacturing unit in Shahapur in Solapur district to be found operating without licence.
"Cosmetics worth Rs 80,000 were seized and stock worth Rs 5 lakh was taken from a manufacturing unit in Sangli," says Thomas.
In another case, Thomas revealed an official found a hair colour product being manufactured without licence in Wadki in Solapur district, seizing stock worth Rs 2.27 lakh and another small consignment of the manufacturer worth Rs 680 from another retail shop.
The officials also found manufacturers to be selling ayurveda products without seeking licence from FDA in Pune division.
"Licence is not needed for selling but a person mandatorily needs to seek a licence if he/she is manufacturing ayurveda products. We found two firms in Satara who were in the manufacturing business without licences."