Maharashtra Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is in talks with pharmaceutical companies to explore investment opportunities in special economic zones (SEZ) in and around Multi-Modal International Air Cargo and Hub (MIHAN), Nagpur which will pave way for development of pharma hub in the state. This is expected to complement the much awaited Centre’s policy on bulk drugs and medical devices park.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari are also scheduled to meet the pharmaceutical manufacturers to seek their recommendations on the prospects of developing Nagpur as a Pharmaceutical Hub to make the state a favourable investment destination.

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 a 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 MIHAN Management team recently shared a presentation with Maharashtra FDA  to apprise the state regulator of the various opportunities available to pharma players globally and domestically. Further to this, Gujarat has also demarcated 25 such locations under the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) to attract investment from pharma players. A National Centre for Medical Devices at NIPER Ahmedabad and a Medical Device Park in Gujarat are the two upcoming flagship projects which will boost pharma and medical devices industry in the country.

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.

Gujarat government has also signed 250 MoUs related to pharmaceutical industry with potential domestic and international investors at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS)-2017 at Gandhinagar between January 10 and January 13, 2017. Four MoUs are from overseas. It had inked 201 such pharma MoUs at VGGS-2015.

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

Andhra MedTech Zone (AMTZ)which is India’s first Government funded medical device park is today serving as a one-stop- solution for not only reducing cost of manufacturing up to 40% and to simplify end-to- end operations but also reducing import dependency, which is presently around 75%.