KTR Writes to Centre on Injustice to Telangana in Allocation of Bulk Drug Parks

This has reference to the Bulk Drug Park scheme notified by Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers (MoC&F), Government of India vide notification No. 31026/16/2020-Policy on 02.06.2020 and recent announcement that in-principal approval has been accorded to three states viz. Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. 

Telangana is a State with robust pharmaceutical sector and a vibrant ecosystem conducive for accelerated sectoral growth. While the State contributes to more than 40% of pharma production, it is a matter of pride that Hyderabad is also known as the Vaccine Capital of the World and played a crucial role in supplying WHO approved vaccines to the world during the pandemic. Telangana continues to attract investments in the sector and therefore, keeping in view the sectoral growth, demand for pharma infrastructure and a robust ecosystem to support the sector towards ‘atma-nirbharta’, we had submitted an earnest application towards the ‘Bulk Drug Park’ Scheme as referenced above. It was our confidence that the significant role of Hyderabad so far and its potential in steering the country towards self-sufficiency in bulk drug manufacturing will be considered objectively. Our proposal contained details of our flagship ‘Pharma City’ project which spread over 19000 acres is world’s largest pharma cluster. While this project has garnered worldwide attention, unfortunately it has not been given any consideration in the country.  

As you are well aware, the Indian Pharmaceutical industry is a potent actor on the world stage with more than one-third contribution from Telangana, however, it is critically dependent (close to 70% of imports) on China for its raw materials, particularly the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and other key raw materials. The issue of import dependence on pharmaceutical raw materials has been long recognized in the Country and Government of India had also constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Dr.VM Katoch (former Secretary to Govt of India and Director General, ICMR) to propose ways to reduce imports. The committee, in 2015, recommended establishment of 6 mega parks of about 2,000 acres each with sufficient funding to set-up all common environmental infrastructure, income tax rebate for 10 years, access to soft-loans at 7.5%, among others. 

However, little progress was made in this direction until recently and realizing the urgency around the supply chain constraints during the onset of COVID 19 pandemic, the scheme was launched in the year 2020 with the objective of addressing the national health security threat posed by the dependence on imports from China and to be implemented on a war-footing basis to protect national interest. It may be noted that despite this effort during this period the imports rose by 23% in April-September 2021. 

While it is unfortunate that despite the urgency, Government of India has taken more than 02 years to announce the decision on an in-principal approval, and we are surprised that a shallow decision has been taken, completely ignoring the fact that establishment of an entirely greenfield Bulk Drug park will take significant time not less than 36 months. We state this with experience from our Pharma City Project which is available to support the objectives of the Bulk Drug Scheme towards improving country’s self-reliance on pharma manufacturing. 

It should be duly noted that such biased evaluations are impacting the national interest of becoming self-reliant and as a country we will lose any advantage that may still remain after all these delays. 

Hyderabad Pharma City proposed by Telangana is first-of-its-kind featuring 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 & cooling systems, Logistic Parks, Global Pharma University, Regulatory facilitation cells, Common Drug Development & Testing Laboratories, Startup/SME Hub etc. The project also secured the Environmental Clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), GoI. More than 400 companies have expressed interest to set-up units in the park.  

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India recognised Hyderabad Pharma City Project as a “Project of National Importance” and has accorded the status of National Investment & Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ). Further, the Hyderabad Pharma City project is approved by National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT), GOI as a Priority node under Hyderabad – Warangal Industrial Corridor project. While the Hyderabad Pharma City project has the status of National Importance by Government of India, it is appalling that the same has not been considered for support under the scheme. 

It is appalling that disregarding facts such as project readiness, availability of conducive ecosystem for API manufacturing, demand from the industry to set up manufacturing units does not come across as a rational evaluation undertaken in the best interest of the Country. In my view it will prove to be counter-productive to country’s efforts towards self-reliance and we will end up with under-developed and under-utilized infrastructure. This final decision will reverse the benefits of work undertaken by Pharma industry and the resilience demonstrated during pandemic.

In closing, I assure you that Government of Telangana stands by its commitment towards the development of a world class Bulk Drug Park at Hyderabad Pharma City and promoting competitive domestic manufacturing of pharmaceuticals under the Visionary leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister. We will continue our efforts with same rigour, however this evaluation conducted in right spirit of achieving national interest would have only strengthened the project further and helped the country at large.