New Delhi, July 8 -- India is moving to bring manufacturers and suppliers of printed pharmaceutical packaging materials under drug laws after investigations found genuine packaging being diverted for counterfeit medicines, exposing a regulatory gap that authorities say threatens public health and the reputation of India's pharmaceutical industry.

The drug regulator has begun internal discussions on a mandatory online registration framework for these entities through amendments to the Drugs Rules, 1945, according to two officials and government documents reviewed by Mint.

The move affects India's $50 billion pharmaceutical industry, which supplies 20% of global generic medicines and 60% of vaccines to more than 200 countries.

As a first...