Ranbaxy may set up unit at Mohali SEZ

Ranbaxy Laboratory Ltd and other pharmaceutical companies are likely to reach an agreement by next month that will allow them to set up units within the "product-specific" pharmaceutical SEZ at Mohali.

The pharma SEZ, spread over 80 acres in Mohali's Industrial Estate in sector 76, is expected to emerge as a preferred destination for export-oriented pharma industries and R&D facilities. An investment of Rs 300 crore will be made in it over the next four years.

"The SEZ will either have two or three domestic pharmaceutical companies. For now, the area has not been mapped and we are still on the drawing board," said Pushpinder Bindra, president, Global Manufacturing and Capacity Planning.

He added, "The proposed facility will be the largest manufacturing site for formulations and the 'future of Ranbaxy', catering to the international market." Ranbaxy, one of India's largest pharmaceutical companies, already has a production unit in Mohali.

With the addition of a capsule division here, Ranbaxy will manufacture solid oral dose-like tablets and capsules.

Commenting on the unit's capacity, Bindra quipped, "It should touch 8 billion tablets and capsules per annum eventually."