As a prelude to the meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari with pharmaceutical manufacturers towards developing Nagpur as a pharmaceutical hub, eight major pharmaceutical companies have shown interest to Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop bulk drugs park in Nagpur.

Maharashtra FDA minister Girish Bapat and Minister of State (FDA) Madan Yerawar will also be attending the meet which is scheduled to be held on April 24, 2018 in Mumbai.

Maharashtra FDA which has been assigned to facilitate manufacturers with modalities related to the bulk drugs park and medical device park in Nagpur have received letters of intent and MoUs from the concerned manufacturers.

Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Dr Pallavi Darade had earlier met pharmaceutical companies at Nashik, Pune, Aurangabad and Thane to explore investment opportunities in special economic zones (SEZ) in MIHAN to pave way for development of pharma hub in the state.  

According to a senior FDA official, “We are expecting more such MoUs as pharma companies have been given presentations on the flagship project with meetings held across Maharashtra which received overwhelming response.”

Maharashtra FDA had few months back initiated talks with API manufacturers to develop a bulk drugs park in Nagpur. The state regulator had also earlier spoken to the Multi-Modal International Air Cargo and Hub (MIHAN), Nagpur management on the modalities of setting up a bulk drugs park with focus on drug quality in line with global regulatory harmonisation process.

Following which the MIHAN team gave a presentation on the implementation of guidelines, approvals and clearances required for the companies for setting up the units. The MIHAN team also apprised the state regulator and manufacturers of the various opportunities available to pharma players globally and domestically.

This according to the state drug regulator will complement the much awaited Centre’s policy on bulk drugs and medical devices park.  Plans to set up a medical device park similar to what has been developed in Visakhapatnam was also discussed in the meet held in Mumbai.  

MIHAN is an airport project for Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur aimed to exploit the central location of Nagpur and convert the present airport into a major cargo hub with integrated road and rail connectivity. It consists of two parts, namely an International airport to act as a cargo hub and an SEZ on the southern end of Nagpur.

This comes at a time when the government plans an exclusive policy on developing bulk drug parks, medical device parks and formulation parks to reduce its dependence on other countries for supply of APIs and faulty medical devices.

The park is stipulated to have common manufacturing facilities and will reduce capital expenditure for projects by offering low cost rentals and revenue support services, thus enabling these units to be competitive. The park will enable the companies with all the latest technological support required for R&D.

This will also enhance drug and medical device testing and certification capabilities of the industry which has been a neglected area.