AP to create zones for pharma industries

The Andhra Pradesh government was working on creating zones for pharma industries to avoid pollution problem.

It has set up the Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City in Visakhapatnam and has proposed the Petroleum, Chemicals, Petrochemical Investment Region covering East Godavari and Vizag where waste could be let out into the sea, said chief minister K Rosaiah.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘Indian pharma industry’ here on Friday, he said AP had identified pharma as a potential sector to contribute to the growth of the state

However, pharma industries around Hyderabad have become congested and were posing environmental challenges. To address this, the state together with the Centre was promoting a pharma cluster near here with Rs 66.16 crore.

The state ranked first in the manufacturing of bulk drugs and third in formulations in the country. It accounts for 40 per cent of the total Indian bulk drug production and 50 per cent of the bulk drug exports. The state pharma industry and exports were expected to grow at 20 per cent.

Bulk Drug Manufacturers Association president K Nityananda Reddy asked the government to bring the pharma industry under the Essential Services and Maintenance Act

The chief minister, who also spoke at the International Vaccine Technology Workshop, urged vaccine manufacturers and researchers to come up with practical solutions and funding alternatives to safeguard public health.

The state had recently allocated 200 acre for setting up a medical and bio-medical devices unit and also proposed to implement the Jan-Aushadhi programme of the Centre. US Pharmacopeia was setting up a facility with an investment of Rs 60 crore in Genome Valley, the first-of-its-kind outside the US.