The Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City located at Parawada near Visakhapatnam has sold 750 acres of land to various bulk drug companies. About 40 per cent of the land cost has been paid by bulk drug companies to the developers, Ramky Pharma City (India) Ltd.
Hazardous waste disposal facility is under construction.
75 per cent of work on constructing the roads in the Pharma City has been completed. Work on common effluent treatment plant (CETP) is to begin soon. The common infrastructural facilities at the Pharma City will be in place by June 2006. Dr KSM Rao, managing director of Ramky Pharma City told Pharmabiz.
Ramky and the bulk drug companies that are setting up manufacturing base in the Pharma City are now awaiting for a government order as part of the proposed new industrial policy of the State of Andhra Pradesh that will enable 100 per cent stamp duty reimbursement to companies. The order is likely to be passed by the first week of June 2005.
The bulk drug companies that are to set up manufacturing units in the Pharma city include Aurobindo Pharma, Indswift labs, Hetero Drugs, Matrix Labs, Shasun Chemicals, SMS Pharmaceuticals, Suven Life Sciences and Orchid Chemicals.
On the SEZ that is coming up in Visakhapatnam which is also attracting pharma companies, Dr Rao said, the SEZ is primarily for formulation companies which are non-polluting units, and the Pharma City is to host only bulk drug companies. So the growth of SEZ will no way affect the prospects of Pharma City, instead it will strengthen Visakhapatnam to become a major hub for pharmaceutical activity in the state next to Hyderabad, the bulk drug capital of the country.
Reacting to the impact on Andhra Pradesh’s pharma industry due the tax incentives offered by places like Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, Dr Rao said that AP may not be affected since the industry has already grown in size. But the affect can be certainly felt in States such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Madhya Pradesh. Most of the units set up at Baddi will be formulation manufacturers and bulk drug companies would not find it suitable to set up production base there.
Being a growing State, Himachal can afford to offer certain benefits to industry, he added.