No Place to Hide

Maharashtra Crackdown

Meet Tulka Ram Munde

 Why the Raids Now

Mission Safe Food Drugs

Public Complaint Tools

Building Compliance Culture

Pressure and Pushback

Hospitals Pharmacy Rights

Spurious Drugs and GMP

Drug Pricing Scrutiny

Stopping OTC Antibiotics

Whats Next on Radar

Wrap Up

Since late May 2026, Maharashtra has been in the middle of one of its most aggressive food and drug enforcement drives in years — adulterated prasad seized near Shirdi, synthetic milk units shut down, the license of Mumbai’s Parsi Dairy Farm suspended, hospitals pulled up for forcing patients to buy from in-house pharmacies, and over 1,100 raids conducted statewide in just two months. The trigger: a widening gap between food safety standards on paper and enforcement on the ground, rising antimicrobial resistance from unchecked antibiotic sales, and a regulator willing to finally use the full force of the law.

This is the first of a two-part series on that crackdown. In this episode, ET’s pharma editor Vikas Dandekar speaks to the man driving it: Tukaram Mundhe, Commissioner of Maharashtra FDA. A 2005-batch IAS officer transferred 25 times in 21 years, Mundhe is known for his uncompromising style. They discuss what’s fueling the crackdown, whether it can survive political pressure, and if this enforcement is sustainable.

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Since late May 2026, Maharashtra has been in the middle of one of its most aggressive food and drug enforcement drives in years &mdash; adulterated prasad seized near Shirdi, synthetic milk units shut down, the license of Mumbai&rsquo;s Parsi Dairy Farm suspended, hospitals pulled up for forcing patients to buy from in-house pharmacies, and over 1,100 raids conducted statewide in just two months. The trigger: a widening gap between food safety standards on paper and enforcement on the ground, rising antimicrobial resistance from unchecked antibiotic sales, and a regulator willing to finally use the full force of the law.
This is the first of a two-part series on that crackdown. In this episode, ET&rsquo;s pharma editor Vikas Dandekar speaks to the man driving it: Tukaram Mundhe, Commissioner of Maharashtra FDA. A 2005-batch IAS officer transferred 25 times in 21 years, Mundhe is known for his uncompromising style. They discuss what&rsquo;s fueling the crackdown, whether it can survive political pressure, and if this enforcement is sustainable.
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No Place to Hide: Inside Maharashtra’s Food & Drug Crackdown (Part 1) 