Elder kicks off tablet unit in Uttaranchal

The Rs 300 crore Elder Pharmaceuticals has commissioned a new manufacturing facility at Selaqui, near Dehradun in Uttaranchal, a company press release said. The new facility, equipped to manufacture general tablets, has the capacity to produce 225 lakh tablets per month on a single shift.

The plant is situated in a notified area and is eligible for excise and income tax exemptions announced by the central and state governments.

Elder Pharmaceuticals, the release said, also plans to set up two more formulation plants in Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh. To be set up with an investment of Rs 85-90 crore, the plants are expected to start commercial production by 2006-07.

The expansion has been funded by issue of equity shares on a preferential basis to various foreign institutional investors (FII), debt and internal accruals.

"Elder is aggressively pursuing major growth on all fronts - international in-licensing, export market, increasing capacities, acquisitions and deeper market penetration in South Asia," said Alok Saxena, director at Elder Pharmaceuticals.