Investors pin hopes on early operations of Haroli drug park

Ambika Sharma

Solan, November 16

Pharmaceutical investors are pinning hopes on speedier operations of the bulk drug park at Haroli in Una district as it will ease availability of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and other raw materials used in manufacturing drugs.

More than 65 per cent of the APIs are currently being imported from China. The manufacturers faced slew of problems when manufacturing operations in China were hit during Covid. The API price not only soared during the period but the availability was adversely affected. This prompted the Union Government to announce three bulk drug parks to reduce dependence on China.

The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers had granted in-principle approval to the park in August. The government will provide Rs 1,000 crore for the project while the state will pool in Rs 190.25 crore. An investment of Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore is expected in the park.

It will take at least one and a half year. Manufacturers have to spend crores on logistics alone in buying raw material like API and excipients from China.

“The setting up of the park will help the manufacturers to save on logistic as well as time in arranging raw materials from China. It will also save the foreign reserve spent on buying this material,” said SL Singla, a manufacturer from Baddi.

Illustrating its impact on manufacturers in Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN), another investor, who has been operating a unit since 2006 at Baddi, said, “An average 40 to 45 days period is spent on securing APIs from China where the freight alone costs Rs 90 lakh while the raw material costs Rs 36.04 crore.”

“I end up spending Rs 51.74 crore on raw material alone. I have invested Rs 50 crore and have a turnover of Rs 85 crore,” he added.

Dr Rajesh Gupta, All India head of Laghu Udyog Bharti, said the park would reduce dependence on China. Since the state has consumption capacity, it will benefit the investors and issues like time lost in advance planning to import raw material would be saved. It will also enhance scope for future expansion of the industry.

The annual demand for bulk drugs ranges from Rs 30,000 crore to 35,000 crore in the state, which has 600 pharma units. The state manufactures 40 per cent of nation’s drug formulations and the BBN is acclaimed as the ‘Pharmaceutical Hub of Asia’.