Hailing the industrial policy of Narendra Modi government in Gujarat, the Alathur Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (APMA), based in Kancheepuram district in Tamil Nadu, has urged the state government to adopt the industrial policies of Gujarat government to promote pharma industries in Tamil Nadu.


The pharma manufacturers association, in a letter to the Principal Secretary to the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), has pointed out that if the Tamil Nadu government follows the Gujarat Industrial Policy, it will encourage more investments in the state, especially in pharma sector.


After handing over a letter to the MSME secretary with details of Gujarat Industrial policy, S Lekshminarayanan, secretary of the association told Pharmabiz that the Gujarat government has got investments worth more than Rs.10,000 crore from the pharma sector alone because of the promotional steps taken by that government. More than 80 pharma companies, including four US based companies, have come up to invest in Gujarat and around 6000 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) have signed between the companies and the government. Lekshminarayanan said as an industrialist he wants the same initiatives taken by the state government to be implemented in Tamil Nadu also.


According to him, Gujarat is in the forefront of growth in the pharmaceuticals industries in India. The state accounts for 42 per cent share of India’s pharmaceutical turnover, 22 per cent of its drug exports and 20 per cent of its chemicals output. The pharma industry in that state gives employment to over 52000 people in various capacities, he said.


Speaking to Pharmabiz, the APMA secretary further said there are currently 3500 drug manufacturing units in Gujarat and it houses several established companies such as Torrent Pharma, Zydus Cadila, the century old Alembic, Sun Pharma, Claris, Intas Pharmaceuticals, Dishman Pharmaceuticals etc. All these companies have operations in the world’s major pharma markets also.


In the letter given to the MSME secretary, Lekshminarayanan has mentioned that strong linkages between small and medium size players, industrial bodies, and medical & financial institutions has created a proper eco system for the growth of the pharmaceutical industry in the commercial capital of Ahmadabad. This had made Ahmadabad one of the highly developed pharma clusters in Gujarat.


Further, the letter says that the state has approximately 40 per cent of the Contract Research Organizations in the country. The state’s well established healthcare sector, strong infrastructure facilities and low real estate costs has attracted many global and domestic CROs to set up shops in the state. Quoting industry estimates, APMA has informed the state government that approximately 35-40 per cent of India’s pharmaceutical machinery is produced in Gujarat.


Recently, the Chennai Pharma Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Company (CPIIUC), the Special Purpose Vehicle floated by the Alathur Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (APMA) for the development of pharma cluster, has received Rs.5.50 crore under Micro and Small Enterprises – Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP) Scheme of the Central government to develop infrastructure facilities at Alathur Pharma Estate.


It was the first phase of release of the total sanctioned amount of Rs.63 crore for the Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (IIUS) for the pharmaceutical cluster at Alathur, said Lekshminarayanan, secretary of APMA.