The Bangalore-based Micro Labs has made an investment of Rs. 4 crore to buy up a 60,000sq.m area close to its existing facility at Verna Industrial Area in Goa. The new facility will have four multi-units and all of them are expected to be ready within the next two to three years. The company is still undertaking conceptual studies for the plant expansions along with budget allocations.

First phase of the expansion project will have a tablet facility. The decision to expand came in because Goa is turning out to be a significantly lucrative location compared to the Union government's excise free locations: Baddi, Uttaranchal and Jammu & Kashmir. With this expansion, Micro Labs will have five units at Goa alone taking the total number of units for the company to fourteen, PL Naik, vice-president, (Operations), Micro Labs, said in a telephonic interview.

Currently, Micro Labs' unit in Goa set up in 2004 at an investment of Rs. 40 lakh caters to the regulated and domestic markets. It manufactures formulations, which are hard gelatine capsules and tablets for diabetes, cardiology and pain management. The plant was primarily built in line with the overseas regulatory requirements and the basic thrust is the regulated markets. The unit is a UK MHRA compliant facility which has also received WHO GMP and MCC South Africa certifications. It is now gearing up for a USFDA inspection. "The total capacity of the Goa plant is 1,200 million tablets and 250 million hard gelatin capsules per annum," explained Naik.

Micro Labs already has 9 facilities: four units in Bangalore, one unit each at Kumbalgod on Mysore Road, Hosur, Goa, Pondicherry and at Baddi. The Goa unit is the 8th unit for the company.

Goa was selected by the Micro Labs management to set-up a unit because the state government announced a series of industrial-friendly polices which include income tax holiday for five years. Other reasons are strategic location with good infrastructure facilities with a centrally located airport, a seaport, connectivity by excellent road network supported with infrastructure like Container Freight Station etc. The state has one of the country's highest tele-densities. Fibre optic connectivity too has spread its network across the state, bringing state of art telecommunication to the people. There is sufficient power reserve and the tariff has been pegged at very reasonable rates.

Additional factors to opt for Goa are its easy access to Mumbai and Bangalore which are also known for its pharma-biotech units and the availability of manpower, added Naik.

Current staff strength at the plant is 125 personnel. The facility recently bagged the IDMA Quality Excellence Award in the category of pharma units of Rs 100 crore turnover, which was received by Naik in December 2005.