Karnataka will have to compete with ten other Indian states to set up a manufacturing park for bulk drugs or medical devices for which the Centre will provide financial
assistance.
The Centre has announced the setting up of three parks for bulk drugs and four for medical devices across India. For every bulk drug park, the Centre will give states Rs 1,000 crore and for every medical device park Rs 100 crore.
Setting up of these parks forms a part of the Rs 13,760-crore national package to boost domestic manufacturing of bulk drugs and also incentivising production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and medical
devices.
“We are willing to grab this opportunity and make all necessary arrangements to get the park set up in the state,” Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar told DH. He said he would reach out to Union Minister for Fertiliser, Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals D V Sadananda Gowda to take this forward.
Shettar expressed confidence that the state government might see success in getting a park sanctioned by citing the example
of an IIT that was sanctioned
at Dharwad.
The Rs 13,760-crore package was announced as the Covid-19 outbreak in China led to a complete stop in the import of bulk drugs and APIs to India.
Ten Indian states have already responded to the package seeking these parks to be set up on their land, Gowda told DH. “There’s competition. We will consider states that offer maximum infrastructure, benefits and a lot of land,” he said.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals has finalised the guidelines for selection of locations of the parks, Gowda said. “The guidelines will be issued in a couple of days.” The Union minister had earlier announced that Raichur would get a mega pharma park. It remains to be seen if Raichur will make the cut as per the guidelines.
Earlier in the week, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal met Gowda and asked for a park to be set up at Bhatinda. Apparently, Punjab has offered 1,350 acres for this purpose and has claimed to have the right ecosystem.
According to sources, there is some anger within the state government over the Centre not reaching out to Karnataka on the setting up of the parks, considering that it is the BJP in power at both places.