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India needs stronger environmental regulations to thwart spread of antibiotic resistance: Saransh Chaudhary
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Nandita Vijayasimha, Bengaluru
August 18 , 2025
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Environmental regulations are urgently needed because municipal and industrial wastewater worldwide contains antibiotics regularly exceeding safety thresholds, said Saransh Chaudhary, president, Global Critical Care, Venus Remedies, and CEO, Venus Medicine Research Centre.
This has been demonstrated by a 2024 study reporting some pharmaceutical facility effluents as high as 10,182mg/kg. Standard treatment plants often fail to remove all antibiotics, with quantities higher during warmer months. Notably, rising global temperatures, extreme weather events, and shifting ecosystems—due to climate change are altering infectious disease patterns and spreading resistant organisms to new, previously unaffected regions, he added.
Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are most affected by infrastructure and enforcement gaps. India has struggled to formalize regulations on antibiotic discharge into water bodies, with a 2020 standard for pharmaceutical effluents later quashed in 2021, removing explicit limits on antibiotic residues. Without robust, enforceable standards, the environment remains a persistent AMR reservoir, Chaudhary told Pharmabiz in an email.
Global AMR policy is undermined by the absence of binding, harmonized standards for antibiotic discharge, most effort remains voluntary or aspirational, with patchy enforcement. The 2024 UN General Assembly’s political declaration aims for a 10% reduction in AMR deaths by 2030, yet enforcement mechanisms, incentives, and penalties remain weak. Even initiatives like the AMR Industry Alliance and BSI guidelines lack global enforceability. Back home, while India has introduced several guidelines under Nation Action Plan to curb the discharge of antibiotics in the environment, it faces enforcement challenges, he said.
Surveillance gaps, climate variability, and disparities between high- and low-income countries complicate progress further, emphasizing the need for legal mandates, robust reporting, aligned international standards, and comprehensive technical support tailored to different geographies, said Chaudhary.
The pharmaceutical industry has taken significant steps to address the environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance through greener manufacturing and stronger antibiotic stewardship. Coalitions like the AMR Industry Alliance have introduced the Common Antibiotic Manufacturing Framework, which outlines best practices for environmental management, waste handling, site audits, and science-based discharge targets across the global supply chain.
Many pharma companies are adopting advanced treatment technologies such as zero-liquid-discharge systems and membrane filtration to minimize antibiotic residues in wastewater. The industry has also responded to global initiatives like the Davos Declaration, the Industry Roadmap, and WHO’s 2024 guidance, which emphasize transparency, sustainability, and environmental risk mitigation. These collective efforts reflect a broader commitment to reducing the environmental impact that drives AMR, while advancing responsible antibiotic use, global surveillance, and long-term compliance across pharmaceutical manufacturing operations, said Chaudhary.
The challenge is sector-wide compliance: supportive policy, financial incentives, and technical guidance are needed so that all companies not just the largest can practice effective stewardship and lower their environmental AMR impact, he noted.
Containing environmental AMR at its source demands a unified “One Health” approach that integrates human, animal, and environmental health systems. In 2024, the WHO issued its first-ever guidance on antibiotic pollution from manufacturing, providing a scientific foundation for regulators, procurers, inspectors, and industry to implement stricter waste management standards. Similarly, the 2024 UNGA declaration emphasized the need for open data platforms and shared resources to enable swift, coordinated action. As climate change and ecological disruptions accelerate, such cross-sector collaboration are catalyzing the shift needed to scale solutions, mobilize resources, and sustain long-term progress in tackling environmental AMR, said Chaudhary.
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