KTR on Friday wrote to the Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers seeking the allocation of pharmaceutical parks in the state.
Published Sep 02, 2022 | 7:31 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 02, 2022 | 7:32 PM
Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao. (Supplied)
Telangana Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Friday, 2 September, wrote to the Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers (MoC&F) seeking allocation of pharmaceutical parks in the state.
The minister said that the state’s proposal to the ministry contained details of the flagship “Pharma City” project. Spread over 19,000 acres, it is supposedly the world’s largest pharma cluster.
The Hyderabad Pharma City is expected to feature state-of-the-art infrastructure, common facilities including Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) based Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), integrated solid waste management facility, district heating and cooling systems, logistics parks, a global pharma university, regulatory facilitation cells, common drug development and testing laboratories, and a hub for startups and SMEs.
“While this project has garnered worldwide attention, unfortunately, it has not been given any consideration in the country,” said KTR in the letter.
He said the project has already secured environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). More than 400 companies have expressed interest to set up units in the park.
KTR said in the letter that the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry recognised the Hyderabad Pharma City Project as a “Project of National Importance”, and accorded it the status of National Investment & Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ).
Further, the project has been approved by the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) as a priority node under the Hyderabad-Warangal Industrial Corridor project, he said.
While the Pharma City project has the status of National Importance from the Central government, it is appalling that it has not been considered for support, said the Telangana politician.
“It is appalling that disregarding facts such as project readiness, availability of a conducive ecosystem for API manufacturing, and demand from the industry to set up manufacturing units do not come across as a rational evaluation undertaken in the best interest of the country,” wrote KTR in the letter.
“In my view, it will prove to be counterproductive to the country’s efforts towards self-reliance and we will end up with underdeveloped and underutilised infrastructure. This final decision will reverse the benefits of work undertaken by the pharma industry and the resilience demonstrated during the pandemic,” he added.
“We will continue our efforts with the same rigour. However, this evaluation conducted in the right spirit of achieving national interest would have only strengthened the project further and helped the country at large,” KTR said.
