Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that there is a big opportunity for investment in the drug manufacturing sector. Addressing delegates at the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas in New Delhi, he said, with the country's capacity to manufacture medicines at competitive prices and drugs worth 80 million US dollars going off-patents soon, there exisits huge opportunity for investment. He said, Government has already cleared the desk by streamlining and strengthening the regulatory framework with international credence.Mr Azad said that the drug regulatory framework in the country is in the process of modernisation and strengthening. He also also invited the Indian diaspora to invest in the areas of drugs and the medical education. He said, the ministry of health has taken many steps to facilitate opening of new medical colleges in the unserved and underserved areas of the country, and appealed to the overseas population to invest in such kind of ventures too. He said, a decision has also been taken to grant recognition to medical degrees from five English speaking countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States.The minister said that besides recognition of foreign degrees, many more changes have been effected to facilitate opening of new medical colleges and increase the capacity of existing colleges to meet the shortfall of trained staff.