Bulk drug centre planned in India

The 2,200-acre park has been specially developed by Ramky Group for companies making bulk active pharmaceutical ingredients and should be up and running in 12 months. One of the benefits will be the sharing of common infrastructure for waste management, which could lead to a cost-saving of 25 to 30 per cent.

All the companies on the site will use the same environmental clearance facilities, a model that is the first of its kind in India, according to Ayodhya Rami Reddy, the chairman of Ramky Group.

Local pharmaceutical companies such as Aurobindo and Orchid are already involved in the project, and Ramky is now hoping to broaden the stable to include international bulk drug manufacturers, attracted by the lost cost of making their products in Visakhapatnam.

To fund the project, Ranky is approaching institutional lenders and also plans to raise R 400-500 million (€7-€9m) via an initial public offering.

However, the pharma city has been the subject of some controversy, as a large proportion of the land for the city was acquired from displaced farmer who have not, it is alleged, been adequately reimbursed for their land or been given promised rehabilitation programmes.