Hyderabad is preferably a destination for pharma companies
Prashant Chauhan
Hyderabad has now become one of the preferred destinations for global pharma biotech investments and has already attracted around Rs.7,500 crore of investment over the last one year.
Out of this, nearly investment worth Rs.1,000 crore has been committed in the last one month and a substantial amount has already been invested.
“Hyderabad has been known for its strengths in pharma biotech for decades now. There was a time when the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh was the pioneer in the country in the field of bulk drugs. The continued development of the ecosystem in Hyderabad is now attracting investments,’‘ R Uday Bhaskar, Director - General, Pharmaceutical Exports Promotion Council.
As per the State government data, Hyderabad has attracted nearly investments worth Rs.7,500 crore in the pharma, biotech and medical devices arenas over the last one year. All put together , around 220 companies (including minor ones) have either committed or have already started investing which is expected to result in employment foraround 35,000 people.
The latest investments (for Greenfield and Brownfield expansion) include Rs.250 crore by Canadian generic drug-maker Jamp Pharma in a centre of excellence, and $20 million by the US-based Slayback .
Apart from multinationals, domestic majors are also investing. SMT, country’s largest stent-maker is investing Rs.530 crore in its global hub in the medical devices park here. Many others, like Laurus Labs (which has invested over Rs.300 crore already), also have investments lined up.
The ecosystem and infrastructure in Hyderabad is well diversified. The upcoming Pharma City and Medical Devices Park along with well-established Genome Valley will surely augur well for global and domestic investments. There is also availability of skilled manpower and presence of top research and educational institutes here,’‘ said one of the directors of a listed Hyderabad-based pharma company.
In his recent trip to lure investments from the US, Minister for Industries KT Rama Rao made special efforts to showcase strengths of Hyderabad in pharma and biotech sectors.
