Exclusive authority for Pharma City

To act as single window clearance agency for drug firms

The 2,120-acre Pharma City in Visakhapatnam, which is primarily designed to house bulk drug manufacturing operations, is getting an exclusive authority to act as a single window clearance agency for all units locating their operations there.

Pharma City will be the first infrastructure project to have a separate authority as currently this kind of facility is being provided by the government to only special economic zones (SEZs). The authority will be empowered to issue all the necessary sanctions, including building clearances.

Nomination of officials from various government departments to the park-level authority has been processed by the industry commissionerate and formal orders constituting the authority are yet to be issued, according to P Eshwar Reddy, chief executive officer of Ramky Pharma City (India) Limited, which is the developer of the first-of-its-kind Rs 300-crore park for bulk drugs and pharmaceutical sector.

Basic infrastructure, including common effluent treatment plant and marine outfall here is expected to be ready by August 2006, and the companies which have booked land can start their operations from October 2006 onwards, according to the developer of the public-private partnership (PPP) venture.

More than 70 per cent of the 1,450-acre net area has been booked by drug companies from within and outside Andhra Pradesh. French multinational SNF Chemicals, Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals, Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs, and Shasun are among the few names that have booked land in the park while Vishnu Chemicals, Vasudha Pharmaceuticals and Glochem Industries Limited have already started construction work.

Besides a couple of national-level players, some of the multinational companies, including a couple of firms from Japan, have evinced interest in locating their operations from the Pharma City, Eshwar Reddy said. "Negotiations with some of these companies are currently on," Eshwar Reddy said.

The Pharma City proposes to offer entire services and facilities including effluent treatment, gas, warehousing and chemical storage terminals so that the companies can focus on their core operations. Individual companies are not required to get environmental clearances as the Government of India has accorded a blanket environmental clearance to the Pharma City.

The developer is also planning to apply for SEZ status for a 400-acre area within the Pharma City, where 100 per cent export-oriented units will come up.

Though the state government is showcasing the Pharma City to attract investments in pharma and bulk drug sectors, usual bureaucratic bottlenecks are causing delays in the completion of the project. Even while the project is nearing completion, the orders pertaining to incentives offered by the state government are yet to be issued.