Himachal delegation visited Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City (JNPC), Vizag: Harshwardhan Chauhan

A delegation of the State government led by Industries Minister, Harshwardhan Chauhan visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City (JNPC), India’s first API & Pharma Park located at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh.

Harshwardhan Chauhan said that the objective of the visit was to understand the project, especially with respect to the development of a similar Bulk Drug Park at Una in Himachal Pradesh. He said that the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India (GoI) has approved setting up the park in Himachal Pradesh with a grant-in-aid of Rs. 1000 Crore for developing various common utilities.

The delegation visited all the key utilities of JNPC and had one-to-one discussions and interactions with the respective operators of the utilities. The purpose of the visit was to understand the operational technicalities of key utilities and the operation of labs etc.

The Industries Minister said that as Himachal is a Pharma Hub for Pharma Formulation, with an annual API consumption of about Rs. 30,000 crores and one of the leading exporters of formulation in North India, the backward integration will provide them with a ready and captive market. He also shared that under the leadership of the Chief Minister, Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the state is committed to execute the park in a time-bound manner and firmly towards providing facilitation to investors.

Harshwardhan Chauhan said that the visit provided a unique opportunity to understand the challenges faced by the JNPC and explore strategies to address them effectively. Since environmental concerns in perspective of the upcoming Bulk Drug Park is crucial for the State, the delegation visited the existing Common Effluent Treatment Plant and Solid Waste Management Facility in the Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma Park (JNPC) and the officials from Jal Shakti Vibhag spent meaningful time for thoroughly understanding the treatment and disposal mechanism.

After the visit to key utilities, the delegation also visited the plant of Laurus Labs, an Indian multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, which is one of the world leaders in API. Vice President of Laurus shared that the company is engaged in manufacturing anti-cancer, anti-diabetics, and a few API products to the tune of 100 tons per month.

The delegation also interacted with a few investors, who already have manufacturing units engaged in bulk drug production.

The Industries Minister, Principal Secretary and Director of Industries engaged in productive discussions with the stakeholders and invited them to set up units in the upcoming Bulk Drug Park in Himachal. They also had wide-ranging discussions on technical & non-technical issues of Bulk drug parks, which served as a platform to exchange ideas, concerns, and suggestions, enabling a better understanding of its development, and the steps to be taken for making it even more attractive to investors vis-a-vis many other upcoming Bulk Drug Parks around the country.

Ayodhya Reddy, Chairman, Ramky Group, welcomed the delegates and appreciated the seriousness and commitment of the Himachal Pradesh Government for setting up the Bulk Drug Park.

Dr. P. P. Lal Krishna, MD, JNPC made a detailed presentation on the JNPC and briefed the details of the Park. He also shared insights on the operation and management of the park with technical details of the utility requirements in the park.

During the meeting, MD highlighted the treatment of wastewater & Solid waste as the most critical challenge that needs to be addressed and planned for any of the upcoming Bulk drug Park.

The delegation includes MLA Dharampur, Chander Shekhar, R.D. Nazeem, Principal Secretary Industries, Rakesh Kumar Prajapati, Managing Director-cum-CEO HPBDPIL, Vijay Kr. Dhatwalia, Chief Engineer, Jal Shakti Vibhag, Hamirpur, Tilak Raj Sharma, Addl. Director Industries (Dev.), Naresh Dhiman, Superintending Engineer, Jal Shakti Vibhag, Una, Anshul Dhiman, Joint Director Industries, DIC Una, Sakshi Satti, General Manager, SWCA, Nalagarh, Rajesh Minhas, Executive Engineer, HPSIDC and Sumit Sagar Dogra, Project Lead, E&Y.