New Delhi : India has rejected as many as 955 patent applications in the pharmaceutical sector in the last three years.

"618 applications have been rejected citing Section 3 (d) of the Patents Act, 1970, as one of the grounds for rejection in the last three years," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

"A total of 955 patent applications in pharma have been rejected by the Indian Patent Office (IPO) in the last three years."

To a separate query, she said India is considered as a leading exporter and holds second position in export of generic drugs in terms of volumes.

Replying separately, the minister said there was a slowdown in exports from SEZs because of reasons like withdrawal of exemptions of minimum alternate tax and dividend distribution tax and uncertain fiscal regime for SEZs and global factors.

In 2015-16, exports from these zones grew only 0.77 per cent to Rs 4.67 lakh crore.

So far, 29 cases have been reported as fraud in the SEZs in the country on which appropriate action has been initiated or taken by the concerned authorities, Sitharaman said. The companies include Rajesh Exports, Tata International and Sun Solution.

There are 204 functional SEZs so far in the country and 226 non-functional.