Bal Pharma has set apart Rs 20 crore for setting up an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) plant in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Hassan in Karnataka. The unit will be built according to US FDA standards and the company's main objective is to source all its API products for the regulated regions from this facility.

"The Karnataka government has allotted the land in the SEZ at Hassan to Bal Pharma and we will gain possession of it this month", Shailesh Siroya, managing director, Bal Pharma stated during an interaction with Pharmabiz.

The company already has a full fledged API unit known as Bal II at the Bommasandra Industrial Area in Bangalore where it has been manufacturing all its products notable ones being Gliclazide an anti-diabetic, Ebastine an anti histamine, Topiramate for epilepsy. Amiloride, a diuretic and Benzydamine, an anti pyretic.

Within the next 16-18 months, the company will ensure its API unit at Hassan will be up and ready. It will shift its entire range of APIs to the new manufacturing unit and would retain production of Ebastine at Bal II unit at Bangalore. The existing Bal II facility will become a pilot plant for its contract research products, stated Siroya. "We are going to increase our contract research activities," he added.

The Hassan SEZ is fully operational and there are a few pharma companies more are setting their bases here. The key reason to shift its APIs production from Bangalore to Hassan was to capitalize its SEZ benefits. Being a Bangalore-based company, the company only wanted to increase its presence in Karnataka and Hassan proved a good choice in terms of fiscal benefits. Bal Pharma also invested around Rs 20 crore in 2006 to set up a facility at Uttaranchal to manufacture formulations for the domestic market. The Uttaranchal facility will be commissioned in October this year.

For 2007-08, the company has an aggressive thrust towards branded products in both international and Indian markets.

On the export front, it is present in 48 countries and is gearing up for the Latin American market. Thirty per cent of its turnover is from international sales. The company has six divisions: Main, Servetus (cardiac drugs), Glyduz (diabetics) , Zennova (generics), GHS(generic hospital sales) and Bal Vedics (herbal) which assisted in generating a turnover of Rs 76 crore in 2006.

The company will increase its personnel strength from 1,060 by another 50-100 personnel in Q3.