Torrent to kick-start its Sikkim facility soon

Bullish on its formulations business, Ahmedabad based pharma major Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd is all set commission its Rs125 crore Sikkim facility within the first quarter of next fiscal.

The formulations facility would produce 3 billion tablets and capsules per annum. Torrent’s manufacturing plant at Chhatral has a capacity to manufacture approximately 3 billion tablets, capsules and vials and 15,000 kg of Bulk Drugs or API (active pharmaceutical ingredients), while its Baddi facility can manufacture 3.6 billion tablets, 150 million capsules, 10 million oral liquid bottles and 12 million sachets per annum.

With the Sikkim facility coming onstream, the company's formulation capacity will touch close to 10 billion tablets and capsules. The Rs1900 crore pharmaceutical company is bullish on its formulations business, both domestic and international. While its domestic formulations business grew by 17 per cent last quarter, sales outside India jumped 19 per cent. Torrent now plans to enter the UK and Romania markets shortly.

Meanwhile, it has also started work on the Dahej facility which will manufacture 8.5 billion formulations and 40 million tonnes per annum of API. Torrent's Dahej facility is coming up at the Dahej special economic zone (SEZ) with an investment of around Rs350 crore.

The Dahej SEZ is a 50:50 joint venture between the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and ONGC.

It is likely to come onstream in 2012. Torrent is eying to sell products to the regulated markets like the US from its Dahej unit.

The company has nine discovery projects in the pipeline. It has filed 338 patents for new chemical entities (NCEs) in all major markets across the world, of which 159 patents have been granted so far.