Three bulk drug parks to come up in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh

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Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers announced on September 1 that the Department of Pharmaceuticals has conveyed ‘in-principle’ approval to the proposals of three states, namely, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh under the scheme for “Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks”.

The initiative which was notified in 2020 and has a financial outlay of Rs 3,000, is expected to support bulk drug manufacturing in India. Under the scheme, financial assistance will be provided to the three states to set up bulk drug parks with the end goal of bringing down the cost of making bulk drugs by creating “world-class common infrastructure facilities supported by the Centre”.

The financial assistance to the proposed bulk drug park in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh would be 70 percent of the project cost of common infrastructure facilities, while for Himachal Pradesh it would be 90 percent, as it is a hilly state. The maximum assistance under the scheme for one bulk drug park would be limited to Rs 1,000 crore.

As per the proposals submitted by these states, the Bulk Drugs will be established in 1402.44 acres of land at Tehsil Haroli, District Una, Himachal Pradesh, 2015.02 acres of land at Tehsil Jambusar, District Bharuch, Gujarat and 2000.45 acres of land at K.P. Puram &Kodhada of Thondagi Mandal of East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh. These three states were instructed to submit their Detailed Project Reports in the next 90 days, to appraise the same and to process for issuance of final approval under the scheme.

The ministry said in a statement that the Indian pharmaceutical industry is the third largest in the world by volume, with the country exporting pharmaceuticals worth Rs 1,75,040 crore in the financial year 2021-22, including bulk drugs/ drug intermediates. At the same time, India is also one of the major producers of Active Pharma Ingredients (API) or bulk drugs in the world. The country exported bulk drugs/ drug intermediates worth Rs 33,320 crore in the financial year 2021-22.

Yet, “India has to import various bulk drugs/ APIs for producing medicines from various countries. Most of these imports are done due to economic considerations”, the statement added.

The Government is looking to minimise the country’s dependence on such imports and give a fillip to indigenous manufacturing. In fact, in order to make India self-reliant on APIs and drug intermediates, the Department of Pharmaceuticals is implementing various schemes, with the Scheme for Bulk Drug Parks being among the key interventions.

The bulk drug parks to be developed under the scheme will provide common infrastructure facilities in one place, thereby creating a robust ecosystem for bulk drug manufacturing in the country and also reducing the manufacturing cost significantly, the government said.

This scheme is expected to encourage domestic manufacturing of bulk drugs to reduce import dependence and to establish a dominant position in the global market by providing easy access to standard testing and infrastructure facilities.

It will also help the industry meet the standards of the environment at a reduced cost through innovative methods of common waste management system and also to exploit the benefits arising due to optimisation of resources and economies of scale, the government added.