Three pharma PSUs to be revived

The government has drawn up a plan to revive the three pharmaceutical and chemical units in the public sector. The process kicks off on October 1 this year with the plans to revive the Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Under the plan, IDPL's revival alone will cost about Rs 200 crore while another Rs 136 crore is likely to go into reviving Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd. Details for the revival of the third, Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, are still being worked out.

While Chemicals and Fertiliers Minister Ramvilas Paswan today announced the plan to revive IDPL, sources in the ministry said a Cabinet note had been prepared for the revival of Hindustan Antibiotics and another is being drafted for BCPL.

All five units of IDPL "" in Gurgaon, Chennai, Hyderabad, Muzaffarpur and Rishikesh "" will be revived in a phased manner, according to the ministry. IDPL, which had manufacturing facilities dedicated to bulk drugs, antibiotics, synthetic drugs and vitamins, turned sick in 1992.

The revival is likely to be complete in two-and-half years. As much as Rs 151 crore will go into upgrading the company technically and making it compliant with the good manufacturing prices. The ministry is looking to increase the utilisation of its production capacity gradually over seven years with respect to bulk drugs and formulations.

Board of Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) had recommended closing down the PSU but the government had filed an appeal with Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (AAIFR).

AAIFR would now be informed of the decision on September 13 hearing, whereafter the package would be approved by the competent authority, the release adds.

J S Maini, additional secretary and financial advisor will be heading a committee for the implementation of the reconstruction plan while Mukesh Kakkar would be IDPL's new chairman.

In the upcoming Pharmaceutical Policy, the government is likely to propose that Central Government Departments would have to compulsorily purchase medicines fro the PSUs only and that could tantamount to securing a significant demand for companies like IDPL.