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NC woos Indian pharma for strategic inbound investments with low tax & positive business environment
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
February 16 , 2021
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North Carolina (NC), which is the 28th largest US state, is now on an aggressive mode to lure strategic inbound investments from Indian pharma. There are already successful investment efforts from the Ahmedabad-based injectable major KriGen Pharmaceuticals in North Carolina’s Lillington, Aurobindo Pharma in Durham and Glenmark in Monroe, among others.
A team from the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) is making concerted efforts to promote NC’s infrastructure capabilities in life-science research and manufacturing to woo Indian pharma.
Indian pharma chiefs noted, “Key factors driving outbound investments is the prevalence of a lukewarm investment climate goading them to venture abroad. The ongoing pandemic too has seen a major economic shift which is accelerating growth of life sciences, particularly manufacturing and research. For pharmaceuticals to keep abreast of rapid technology changes, investing in facilities overseas is vital.”
Stating that North Carolina’s cost-effective labour, energy and taxes will augur well for Indian pharma exporting or keen to enter US market, EDPNC team said that even companies looking to expand in active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing have opportunities across NC. Regardless of the size of the project, approvals are faster not just for construction but environmental clearances. If Indian companies are already exporting APIs to the US, then North Carolina is place to be, they said.
According to Rahul Padmanabha, director of investment, EDPNC, there are several efforts for foreign direct investments (FDI) into North Carolina. It is not only multinationals, but several small-medium companies and start-ups from India have invested. We are looking to sustain this growth trajectory.
Jennifer Harkness, client relationship director, EDPNC, said Indian pharma can set up manufacturing plants, have access to qualified workforce, benefit from reduced taxes, low business costs, favourable legal and regulatory environment in North Carolina. Our Research Triangle Park, and the BioPharma Crescent houses Novo Nordisk, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Pfizer, to name a few. The region also offers the best of air, water and sewage systems ideal for API or finished formulations.
“NC is a complete manufacturing state. While we truly have a good value proposition, however it will depend on the investing companies’ processes to maximize this opportunity”, said Colin Kiser, business development manager, Europe and India, EDPNC.
There are also workforce development initiatives because NC in particular has made substantial investments in its professional, scientific, and technical education centres to mould candidates for sector specific needs, he added.
Kiser said NC looked at Indian pharma primarily because companies from here invested abroad and thrived. Knowing that the pharma supply chains are shortening and the south of India is a hot bed of API manufacturing, we wanted to put forth the proposition to invest in North Carolina.
Indian pharma chiefs pointed out an emerging trend, where countries worldwide were devising mechanisms through attractive investment proposals with profitable fiscal offerings based on their advanced infrastructure.
“Going by the unpredictable global supply chain logistics scenario compounded by the pandemic and delayed shipments, we see that it would be logical to set base in those importing countries to ease export hassles. While India’s Atmanirbhar programme is aiming at self-reliance, similar is the intent of countries globally especially for healthcare products. For instance, under the Make in America programme, the US government offers a 15 per cent arbitrage on tax. Therefore, Indian pharma having a big market in the US, now must leverage their expertise and consider investing overseas to maximize on cost and convenience,” they added.
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