With an aim to scale up its excipient production capacity, Nitika Pharmaceutical Specialities Pvt Ltd, a leading manufacturer of pharmaceutical excipients and specialties, is planning to set up its fourth plant in Multi-Model International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) project.

Currently, Nikita has three plants including two GMP certified excipient units and a chemical unit. It is planning to set up fourth plant meant for export in Mihan. “For this we have submitted a proposal for land in Mihan,” informed Ravleen Singh Khurana, managing director, Nitika Pharma.

Started its operation in 1991, Nitika Pharma has grown manifold over the years. This year the company is targeting annual revenue of Rs.100 crore.

Indian pharmaceuticals' thrust for buying indigenous excipients to ensure quality formulations has promoted growth of excipient industries in the country. Low cost and high quality Indian excipients have attracted middle and small pharma companies, said Khurana.

Despite flourishing domestic excipient units, India still imports huge quantities of excipients from  various countries. Nitika MD said “A number of pharma companies still feel that imported excipients are better than domestic excipients. It takes a lot of time to build trust among pharma units about new excipients. Low cost and high quality Indian excipients are in high demand by middle and small companies.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded Nitika best MSME in India. The product line up of Nitika includes Tablube (magnesium stearate), Novalube (sodium stearyl fumarate), Acilube (stearic acid powder), calcium stearate, sodium stearate, zinc stearate, aluminium monostearate, aluminium distearate, aluminium tristearate.

Sun Pharma, Hetero, Cadila, Aurobindo, Pfizer, Novartis, Sanofi, Johnson and Johnson are some of Nitika's clients. The company's initial focus was on exports. “In 2008 we started focusing on domestic market due to global economic slowdown. Our two third of revenue comes from exports and one third from domestic market. We are supplying excipients to more than 90 countries,” said Khurana.

India has better ecosystem for growth of excipient industry. The country has a huge number of pharma companies. It offers new players an opportunity to scale up their business. New excipient manufacturers having quality can go a long way, he concluded.