Industries and IT Minister K.T.Rama Rao has lashed out at the Centre for ignoring Telangana in the allocation of Bulk Drug Parks.
Noting that in-principle approval under the Bulk Drug Park scheme of the Department of Pharmaceuticals was accorded recently to Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, the Minister said in doing so the Centre had disregarded Telangana’s prowess in the pharmaceutical manufacturing space.
“It is appalling that disregarding facts such as project readiness, availability of conducive ecosystem for API manufacturing, demand from the industry to set up manufacturing units does not come across as a rational evaluation undertaken in the best interest of the country. It will prove to be counter-productive to country’s efforts towards self-reliance and we will end up with under-developed and under-utilised infrastructure. This final decision will reverse benefits of work undertaken by pharma industry and the resilience demonstrated during pandemic,” Mr.Rao said in a letter to the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh Mandaviya.
“Telangana continues to attract investments in the sector and therefore, keeping in view the sectoral growth, demand for pharma infrastructure and a robust ecosystem to support the sector towards ‘atma-nirbharta’, had submitted an application towards the ‘Bulk Drug Park’ Scheme. It was our confidence that the significant role of Hyderabad so far and its potential in steering the country towards self-sufficiency in bulk drug manufacturing will be considered objectively,” Mr.Rao said.
The State proposal had details of Hyderabad Pharma City, a project proposed over 19,000 acres. “While this project has garnered worldwide attention, unfortunately it has not been given any consideration in the country,” he said in the letter, a copy of which was marked to the Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Union Ministry.
Pointing out that government of India has taken more than two years to announce the decision on an in-principle approval, he said the fact that a greenfield bulk drug park will take not less than 36 months to be established has been ignored.
“Such biased evaluations are impacting the national interest of becoming self-reliant...,” Mr.Rao said, adding Hyderabad Pharma City project has been given the status of national importance by government of India. Thus, it is appalling the same was not considered for support under the scheme, he said. Proposed as an integrated facility, the Hyderabad Pharma City has secured environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. More than 400 companies have also expressed interest to set up units in the park.
“In closing, I assure you that government of Telangana stands by its commitment towards development of a world class Bulk Drug Park at Hyderabad Pharma City and promoting competitive domestic manufacturing of pharmaceuticals... we will continue our efforts,” Mr.Rao said.
