Infar Realty Hopes Hinge On Akzo Nobel Nod
Infar (India) Ltd, which is planning to set up a nearly Rs 100-crore pharmaceutical factory in West Bengal, hopes to finalise the acquisition of land on Prince Anwar Shah Road by next month.
The acquisition will be subject to the approval of Dutch multinational Akzo Nobel which is to provide the technical know-how for the proposed project.
"We hope to get the final report on the nature of soil on Prince Anwar Shah road soon. If the land is found to be free of pollutants, overseas collaborators Akzo Nobel will consider the report and give a final decision," said A V Iyengar, managing director, Infar (India) Ltd while speaking to reporters after the company's annual general meeting held here yesterday.
Once the site is approved by the overseas firm, the company will take the necessary steps to acquire the land. Meanwhile, the company has already initiated the process of identifying an alternative site in Calcutta itself, if the land on Prince Anwar Shah road fails to meet international standard for setting up formulations and drug factory.
Calcutta-based Infar (India) and the Chennai-based Apollo Hospital had jointly bid to acquire the 24-acres of land of Jay Engineering and Works Ltd in Calcutta. While Apollo plans to set up a 250 bed hospital on 12 acres of land, Infar is planning to set up a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical unit on international standard on the other half of the land.
In the first quarter of the current financial year 1998-99, sales of Infar (India) increased by 48 per cent and net profit by 36 per cent compared to the corresponding period last fiscal.
To ensure greater effectiveness in its operations, the company re-structured itself into four business units in the fiscal 1997-98.
They are Organon business unit for human pharmaceutical and ethical products, Diosynth business unit for bulk drugs and intermediates, Intervet business unit for animal health care products and Organon Teknika business unit for diagnostics.
Meanwhile, Infar (India) will introduce a bladder cancer product in January 1999 and a drug for central nervous system disease in 1999.