India’s 1st API fermentation unit coming up at Nalagarh
Ambika Sharma
Solan, June 30
India’s first active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) fermentation unit, Kinvan Private Limited, is coming up at the Plassara Industrial Area of Nalagarh tehsil with an investment of Rs 460 crore.
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 other nations like China and Korea for this API.
The unit will produce 400 tonnes of potassium clavulanate API annually. Its domestic demand is pegged at 700 tonnes per annum. The unit is being set up under the centrally funded Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
The scheme was launched for the promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical key starting materials (KSMs)/drug intermediates and APIs in the country in 2021.
The plant spread over 70 acres will have eight fermenters of 250 kilo litres each. It is coming up at plot number 1 at the newly set up Plassara Industrial Area in Nalagarh tehsil. It requires 20 megawatt of electricity load.
Sakshi Satti, General Manager, Industries Department, Nalagarh, said the work to install machines was underway and it was slated to be completed by March next year at the bulk drug manufacturer Kinvan Private Limited. Provision of power has been made for the industrial area and it would be provided to this bulk drug manufacturer when sought.
The unit received single-window clearance in July 2021.
The production process of potassium clavulanate includes three main processes: Fermentation, filtration/extraction and crystallisation to obtain the crude product, tert-butylamine clavulanate which is polished to obtain the final product, potassium clavulanate.
India imports bulk drugs largely for economic considerations. Bulk drugs account for 63 to 65 per cent of the total pharmaceutical imports in the country.
Rs 460-crore investment
- Kinvan Private Limited is setting up the unit in the Plassara Industrial Area of Nalagarh tehsil with an investment of Rs 460 crore
- Spread over 70 acres, the unit will have eight fermenters of 250 kilo litres each to produce the API used in the production of several antibiotics
- The unit will produce 400 tonnes of potassium clavulanate API annually, meeting 60% of its demand in the country
