Telangana Government has on Friday protested against `injustice’ to the state in allocation of Bulk Drug Parks.

Referring to recent announcement that in-principle approval for Bulk drug Parks in Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, K T Rama Rao, Minister for Industries, Government of Telangana sent a letter to the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers registering his disappointment over non-approval for proposal submitted by Telangana. 

 “Our proposal contained details of our flagship Pharma City project spread over 19,000 acres and is world’s largest pharma cluster. While this project has garnered worldwide attention, unfortunately it has not been given any consideration in the country,’‘ the Minister said.  

Accelerated growth

Stating that Telangana has a robust pharmaceutical sector and a vibrant ecosystem conducive for accelerated sectoral growth, currently contributing over 40 per cent of total pharma production in the country, the minister said, a proposal was submitted to the ministry for approval under Bulk Drug Park scheme.  

“Government of India had taken more than two years to announce the decision on an in-principle approval, and we are surprised that a shallow decision has been taken, completely ignoring the fact that establishment of an entirely greenfield Bulk Drug Park will take significant time, not less than 36 months. 

National interest

Terming the evaluation “biased’‘, Rao said it would impact the national interest of becoming self-reliant.

Hyderabad Pharma City proposed by Telangana is first of its kind featuring state of the art infrastructure, common facilities including Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) based Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), Integrated solid waste management facility, District heating and cooling systems, Logistic Parks, Global Pharma University, Regulatory facilitation cells, Common Drug Development and Testing Laboratories, Startup/SME Hub etc. 

The project also secured environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and over 400 companies have expressed interest to set up units in the park, the letter said.