The Gujarat government has successfully bagged investment worth around Rs.10,
418.83 crore from the pharma sector in the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat
2011 to be held on January 12 and 13. As of now 83 pharma companies have
come up to invest in Gujarat and will be signing the Memorandum of
Understandings (MoUs) during the event. It is expected that around 6000
MoUs will be signed across sectors during Vibrant Gujarat, where pharma
sector is also expected to be in limelight this year.

According
to H G Koshia, commissioner, Gujarat State Food and Drug Control
Administration (FDCA), unlike last year, this year four US-based pharma
companies have decided to invest in Gujarat with an interest to
establish business in India. The companies are Kalintis Pharma LLC,
Acquiescent Pharmaceutical, Amneal Pharmaceuticals and Asian Aerosol.

According to sources, Kalintis and Acquiescent will be investing Rs. 400 crore each whereas, Amneal will invest Rs.124 crore followed by Asian Aerosol with an investment of Rs.40 crore in the state.

With
this investments, Kalintis Pharma and Amneal plan to set up formulation
units whereas Acquiescent aims at setting up API, formulations and
R&D facilities. Asian Aerosol is planning to enter and tap the Fast
Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) market in the country.

Koshia
informed, “We are happy to note that this year not only Indian companies
but even foreign companies are showing interest to have their base in
Gujarat. It is a huge achievement for us and we hope that we will be
able to bag more projects before the completion of this event.”

He
informed that out of the 83 companies which are investing in Gujarat,
top three investors are Indian companies which have invested over Rs.500 crore each in the state. With a view to strengthen its position in Gujarat, Torrent Pharmaceuticals is investing Rs.800 crore to start a greenfield project which will enable them to set up new facilities and units in Gujarat.

Other major pharma company with its focus on Gujarat is Cadila Healthcare. “Cadila is investing around Rs.700
to 800 crore in Gujarat to set up a formulation and API facility in the
state. They are planning four projects for the same and the above
investment will be divided among these four projects,” Koshia informed.
The third company is Nectar Pharmaceuticals which is investing rupees Rs.500
crore in Gujarat to set up a new pharmaceutical manufacturing, API and
biotech facility. Even Ranbaxy is venturing into the state with an
investment of Rs.250 crore to set up API, formulation and bulk drug facility.

“Out
of the 83 companies who are investing in the state, 42 are from within
the state of Gujarat whereas the rest of the 41 are from outside which
includes the four US based companies,” Koshia said. Further he added
that of all the companies 18 companies are investing more than Rs.100 crore, whereas 43 companies are investing between Rs.10 to 100 crore and 16 companies are investing less than Rs.10 crore. MoUs for all the projects that exceeds Rs.10 crore will be signed on the first day of Vibrant Gujarat whereas the rest is set to be signed on the second day.

Another
highlight is that Pharmexcil is planning to have a reverse buyer seller
meet during Vibrant Gujarat. Pharmexcil has invited people from
different countries to come and interact with Indian manufacturers.
Around six to seven countries will be participating in this event the
participating countries are Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal,
Cambodia, etc. Koshia informed that as of now nearly 40 foreign
delegates have indicated they would participate in the buyer seller meet
and subsequently for Vibrant Gujarat.