The uncertainty among the pharma industry is growing in Andhra Pradesh, due to the bureaucratic standstill as the state is currently undergoing the bifurcation process. Industry experts fear that the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh may delay plans of expansion, new projects, investment opportunities etc as confusion still prevails over where to invest in the long run.

According to the Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC), a not-for-profit registered trust conceived at the suggestion of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), industry is deferring from taking any strategic decisions within the state, bringing almost all the business propositions and initiatives into a temporary standstill. A senior official from FMC pointed out that all their measures with the government aimed to get financial assistance to the SMEs have also suffered due to the chaotic situation prevailing in the government offices.

A highly placed source from the industry informed, “Ever since the notification declaring the formation of Telengana was out, the state has been under utter state of confusion, with lack of any support or co-operation from the government officials, citing the complications arising out of the bifurcation process. Everything is at a standstill, no government official is coming forward to help us with any paper work or clearance, since even they, right from the top to the local government level are not informed and updated on the changing dynamics of the state. All this situation is sure to have a temporary toll on the growth prospective of the industry in the state especially since we fear that it will take another five to six months to get back to business as usual.”

The industry is also said to be in doldrums over setting up or shifting their base, due to lack of clarity from the government of the incentives and support for the industry. The MSME cluster which will fall under the newly formed 29th state of the country, Telengana have a lot of pharma units in it. However, industry insiders state that there is a considerable amount of tension and uncertainty in the industry as many may consider shifting their base to coastal Andhra due to the 10-year tax holidays promised by the government.

It is understood that, under the present political turmoil, many companies across sectors have either postponed or completely shelved their projects in the state for the time being. Industry insiders stressed that they hope to see things getting back to normal in the coming months so that they can do some damage control.