India's first active pharmaceutical ingredient fermentation unit begins production at Nalagarh

In a major relief to the pharmaceutical sector, India's first active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) fermentation unit, which will cater to 60 per cent of the domestic demand, has commenced production at Plassra in Nalagarh.

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India is heavily dependent on countries like China and Korea for its API requirement.

"Set up under the Centrally sponsored production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, this pharmaceutical  raw material manufacturing unit, has achieved up to 6.5 per cent yield in the first few months. To begin with, it is supplying API to states like Gujarat and Uttarakhand," informed Vineet Kumar, member secretary, Industries Department, Nalagarh.

The unit will produce 400 tonnes of potassium clavulanate API annually once it achieves optimum production. Its domestic demand is pegged at 700 tonnes per annum.

Being a key API used in the production of several antibiotics, it will meet around 60 per cent demand of the domestic market. India is heavily dependent on countries like China and Korea for this API requirement.

As many as 309 people have been employed here, including 252 Himachalis. The project was approved by the State-level Single Window Clearance and Monitoring Authority at a meeting on July 7, 2021, and in-principle approval was granted to set up the plant on July 28 the same year.

The PLI scheme was launched for the promotion of domestic manufacturing of key starting materials (KSMs)/drug intermediates and APIs in the country a few years ago. It was launched following wide-ranging deliberations on India’s dependence on critical resources and risk to supply chain bottlenecks after Covid pandemic disrupted supply chains. It also aims at enhancing the industry’s global competitiveness.

The government had identified 48 critical APIs for local manufacturing in its first initiative.