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Centre approves two API Parks in Assam & AP to boost API sector; to provide Rs.70 crore each as financial assistance
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
February 20 , 2019
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The Union government has now approved two parks dedicated for the active
pharmaceutical industry (API) one each in Assam and Andhra Pradesh. The
move according to the government will give the sector the much-needed
boost. While the park in Assam will be located in the outskirts of
Guwahati, the one in Andhra Pradesh is slated to come up in Kurnool
district which is on the bank of river Tungabhadra. The Centre will give
financial support up to Rs.70 crore for
each of these initiatives in addition to the state government
investment. Moreover, the state government can look at public private
partnerships to give a faster implementation of the two API Parks.
Under
the new scheme for development of pharma industry coming in front the
department of pharmaceuticals for 2018-19 is also assistance to API for
common facilities. Here Rs.200 crore has been earmarked. The maximum grant in aid under this category would be Rs.100
crore per API Park or 70 per cent of the project cost whichever is
less. This scheme is implemented through a one-time grant-in-aid to be
released to the state implementing agency implementing the project.
The
government effort is to put in an infrastructure in place which will
give the industry the ability to take-off without much investment. API
manufacture is capital intensive. Now the respective state governments
will need to allocate the land and help in the realisation of these
parks, Jai Priye Prakash, secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP)
told Pharmabiz on the sidelines of the 4th International India Pharma
and India Medical Devices 2019 being held in Bengaluru.
The
Parks for only manufacture of APIs will provide common facilities
covering effluent treatment plants, regular water and power resources,
warehousing, among others.
The government is also encouraging
cluster based API manufacture to stall import dependence. Currently 75
per cent of the APIs are sourced from China. The escalating pricing of
imported APIs, intermediates and excipients have marred the growth
prospects of the sector. The approval of these two parks will provide
economies of scale, increase employment opportunities, besides boosting
domestic production.
Sharing the details of the API focus of the
government, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers
Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya said that currently the export and import
of APIs from China for Indian pharma was in the ratio 50:50 and
therefore it was not an issue. Yet the government has left no stone
unturned and created a Task Force to assess the strengths of API
manufacturing in India.
The government is also keen to encourage
backward integration for existing formulation manufactures to take on
API manufacture. This will give domestic manufacturing a boost.
Further, this is also in sync with the Make in India programme that will
bolster indigenous production of APIs.
According to the
industry representatives present in the event, China is the leader with
its wide basket of APIs, followed by Italy which takes the second spot
and India is the third largest manufacturer globally. Going forward, it
is mergers and acquisitions which will drive the growth prospects in
this market.
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