Mumbai : The bulk drugs park in Gujarat will start its operations from December 2024, according to the timeline set by the Industries and Mines Department (IMD), Government of Gujarat, informed Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) commissioner Dr H G Koshia.
The Central government is implementing the scheme for the promotion of bulk drug parks with the aim of achieving drug security and reducing dependence on imports. The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) had given ‘in-principle’ approval to the proposals for pharma parks in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh based on federal competition among all the states in the country in December 2022.
Industries and Mines Department (IMD), Government of Gujarat has demarcated 2200 acres of land for the country’s first bulk drug park at Jambusar in Bharuch. Under the scheme, the Central government is offering a financial grant-in-aid of Rs. 1,000 crore to develop common infrastructure facilities of the bulk drug parks. The common infrastructure facilities will include a common effluent treatment plant, a common solvent storage system, solid waste management, storm water drains, a safety and hazardous operations audit centre. Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), a wholly owned corporation of the Gujarat government, has been designated as the State Implementing Agency (SIA) for developing the park at Jambusar.
“The state government will further invest Rs. 2,000 crore plus in the bulk drugs park. Under the scheme, the Gujarat government will give incentives to the industry with reference to stamp duty, electricity duty, and interest subsidies. Many states were in competition and wanted a bulk drugs park to be set up based on the incentives and conducive business environment they could offer to the manufacturers. Setting up of this park at Jambusar will boost about 300 industries which are mostly SMEs. The bulk drugs park will be a welcome change as the pharma sector of the country has been hit by an unprecedented rise in the input costs for the past one and a half years,” Dr Koshia further informed.
The bulk drugs park in Gujarat will be set up as per the guidelines of the scheme “Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks” issued by the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Union ministry of chemicals and fertilizers on July 27, 2020, to boost domestic production of bulk drugs.
The scheme intends to boost domestic manufacturing of identified KSMs, drug intermediates and APIs by attracting large investments in the sector and thereby reduce India’s import dependence in critical APIs. Under the Scheme, financial incentives shall be given based on sales made by selected manufacturers for 41 products, which cover all the identified 53 APIs. Financial incentive under the scheme shall be provided on sales of 41 identified products for six (06) years at specified rates.
For fermentation based products, incentive for FY 2023-24 to FY 2026-27 would be 20%, incentive for 2027-28 would be 15% and incentive for 2028-29 would be 5%.For chemical synthesis based products, incentive for FY 2022-23 to FY 2027-28 would be 10%.
Gujarat contributes about 28% of the country’s pharma exports of US$ 25 billion and 30-31% of the domestic market that is pegged at another US$ 25 billion.
