The employees in BV Biologicals, the animal vaccine manufacturing arm of Venkateshwara Hatcheries at Hinjewadi Biotech Park, Pune are facing prospects of closure of the unit manufacturing foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccine.

The unit, with around 60 employees including 16 technical staff, is one of the major suppliers of FMD vaccine for the government scheme under Project Directorate on Foot and Mouth Disease (PDFMD) under the control of Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. Though the facility was commissioned in 2006 and received manufacturing license in 2007, the company stopped the manufacturing operations recently, informed sources. However, the staff has been getting salary till date.

The facility has a capacity to produce more than 60 million doses per year. The estimated total consumption of the vaccine under the PDFMD scheme is around 100 million doses. The action from the company comes when the government, under the 11th five year plan, has decided to increase the programme to 200 districts from the current 54, expecting to increase the coverage to 120 million cattle from the current 30 million, according to sources.

The unit has the largest facility available for manufacturing FMD vaccine, even as very few facilities like Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL) and Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) are producing the vaccine in small amounts. IIL has a capacity to manufacture nearly 50 to 60 million doses per year, the IVRI has a facility to manufacture only five million doses. "There is a huge demand gap of nearly 150 to 200 million doses to cover the cattle all over the country at present. If the facility is closed down, the next option for the government is to import the vaccine with at a higher price from abroad," said an employee.

When the government has hiked the demand projections in the current five year plan, there is no justification for the company to close down the plant which was built with the support of government, said an employee with BV Biologicals. Many of the staff have joined the company from well settled organisations including from the government. The employees are in a highly insecure and distressful situation, he added.

The state of the art facility is established in the biotech park, taking advantage of the subsidy rates for premium land from Maharashtra Industry Development Corporation (MIDC). Also, the company has utilised the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme for importing machinery. "Though it is a private company, it is set up with the help of the government and the government is offering enough market for the product. The company also should have commitment to the nation," said another employee on condition of anonymity.

In the first week of July, the employees resisted a team of experts from the IVRI and the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying has been brought by the company to destroy the seed viruses. "The seed viruses were supplied earlier by the IVRI for development of vaccine and once the seeds are destroyed, it is easy for the company to get the manufacturing licence cancelled," alleged the source. However, the company sources related to the facility refused to comment on the issue.

According to recent reports, India annually suffers a staggering revenue loss of about Rs 20,000 crore due to Foot and Mouth Disease that afflicts the bovine population besides impacting on milk production.