The Hindu Business Line : Singapore company in consortium for Pharma City project

SEMBCORP Industries of Singapore will join the Hyderabad-based Ramky Group and the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) in a consortium to implement the Rs 350-crore Pharma City project near Visakhapatnam.

The Ramky group, which has won the contract to develop the site, would hold 89 per cent of the equity, while the APIIC will have the balance 11 per cent stake. SembCorp Industries, a conglomerate with projects spread across continents, would provide the technical expertise, according to Mr A. Ayodhya Rami Reddy, Chairman of Ramky Group of Companies.

Another Singapore-based company, Jurong Consultants, has been entrusted with the task of preparing the master plan for the project located in Parwada, about 30 km from the coastal, port city of Andhra Pradesh.

Being promoted as one of the first product-specific industrial estates in the country, the Pharma City would be spread over 2,300 acres. APIIC has already acquired the land, while the Ramky group has floated Ramky Pharma City (India) Ltd (RPC(I)L) a special purpose company, to execute the project, Mr Reddy told Business Line.

The Pharma City project has got impetus with industries already evincing interest in procuring area up to 700 acres to set up production units. The Phase-I is targeted to be completed by April 2005, to ensure that the Indian Pharma units derive maximum benefit from the large number of drugs going off patent, as well as in setting up quality-compliant production facilities to tap export markets, he said.

A major advantage being worked out to the resident industries of the Pharma City would be a single window clearance structure, especially for the regulatory areas and environmental issues, so that time and resources of the industry are better utilised. RPC(I)L and APIIC would do all the required facilitation, Mr Reddy said.

The major role for RPC(I)L is to develop roads, water, drainage systems, buildings, waste management, marine disposal, research and development facilities and other infrastructure relevant to the bulk drug and pharma units. In all these areas, the company has proven expertise, the Ramky Group Chairman said.

As on date, "we have planned to demarcate land by the end of March first week and allocate it by March-end, to ensure that the first set of major industries get into the construction mode," Mr Reddy said.

A unique feature of the Pharma City project is the way waste are handled and environmental issues tackled. In addition to a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), the treated wastes would be safely stored undersea, where it would be carried through a 3-km-long pipeline.

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