Mumbai based Unichem Laboratories is investing over Rs 125 crore in new manufacturing facilities to expand business in the domestic market and for exports to the regulated drug markets of US and Europe.
The company is setting up export oriented Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) multi-purpose manufacturing units at Roha and Pithampur in Maharashtra, each with eight plants at an investment of over Rs 60 crore, Prakash Modi, chairman and managing director, told shareholders at the 46th annual general meeting, yesterday.
Unichem is setting up a formulation plant at Sikkim with an investment of Rs 30 crore. Construction work is in full swing and the facility will be operational by next year. It will basically cater to eastern and north eastern markets.
"At our formulation plant at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, we have completed the third large formulation plant for cephalosporin at an investment of Rs 42 crore and also added one more plant for soft gelatin capsules at this site," said Modi.
The expansion programme will complete within a year and majority of the required funds will be raised through internal accruals, he said.
The Company has filed 247 DMFs (Drug Master Files) for API exports in various countries and has set up a new bioscience research and development facility and a pilot plant at Goa.
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At present 75 per cent of the revenues for the Rs 770 crore company comes from domestic business.
For the first quarter of April to June 2009, the company posted a net profit of Rs 32.40 crore, marginaly down against Rs 33.38 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous year. Turnover was also down by 6.8 per cent to Rs 169.3 crore against Rs 181.80 crore.