India, Feb. 20 -- Against the backdrop of rising cases of counterfeit and spurious drugs, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a state-wide "Track and Trace" system to the Central government to digitally monitor medicines across the supply chain.

The proposal comes in the wake of several large-scale seizures of fake drugs across Pune, Thane, Palghar, Nagpur and Latur, and heightened concerns following the cough syrup tragedy in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, in October last year, where at least 25 children died after consuming contaminated medicines.

In a proposal submitted to the Union government, the FDA has sought Rs.26.50 crore in initial funding for the system, which is estimated to cost Rs.100 crore in tota...