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 RL Sharma, the president of the Haryana Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (HPMA) and chairman of the Karnal Pharma Park Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed for setting up the cluster at Karnal, has received an assurance from the state chief minister Dr. Nayab Singh Saini that the government will change the state pharma policy for the speedy development of the Pharma Park Project at Karnal, adjacent to the National Highway 1.
The chief minister has assured the pharma industry that his government will renew the state pharma policy for the sake of development of the pharma park at Karnal, which aims to change the face of Haryana into a modern pharma hub.
The CM assured this to the pharmaceutical manufacturers of Haryana in a state level meeting of the industrial leaders called by the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) at Manesar (New Gurgaon) last week. State industry minister Rao Narbir Singh was also present at the meeting.
The current pharma policy was notified on February 4 in 2019 and was valid for five years. Now the government is preparing to release another pharma policy with priority for development of the Karnal Pharma Park Project which was one of the priorities of the ruling party’s election manifesto in the last assembly election. In addition to this, there was a commitment from the union minister of chemicals and fertilizers that a pharma park would be set up in Karnal Industrial Area, Sharma told Pharmabiz.
In the HCCI submit, RL Sharma, who is also the vice-president of the HCCI, met the chief minister privately and apprised him of the problems faced by the pharma industry and the challenges being encountered by the SPV in establishing the pharma park at Karnal. On hearing the grievances of the industry, the chief minister said he will renew the pharma policy of Haryana to expedite the steps taken by the SPV for the development of the modern pharma formulation park which is expected to change Haryana as a hub of pharma industries in north India. Sharma said once the cluster scheme of pharma formulation industries is materialized, the pharma MSMEs in Haryana will become globally competitive. Further, the park will generate employment opportunities for 30,000 skilled and unskilled personnel.
Talking about the pharma industrial environment of Haryana, the HPMA president said there are over 200 pharma manufacturing units in the state at present, which are located mainly in places like Karnal, Jind, Kaithal, Yamunanagar, Panchkula, Ambala, Jhajjar, Mewat, Sonipat, Faridabad, Rewari, Kurukshetra, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Rohtak, Sirsa and Panipat. The SPV bought 100 acres of land for the pharma cluster at Karnal and started preliminary work for the cluster scheme. He said the initiative will address a prime demand of the HCCI and is expected to significantly bolster the pharmaceutical sector in the region.
The cluster will have the common facilities such as common drug testing laboratory (CDTL) and common effluent treatment plant (CETP). Further, for simplification of regulatory processes for new investors, the government will integrate all pharma sector related clearances with the single window portal of the state to provide clearances in a time-bound, completely online, and streamlined manner. Timelines for all licenses will be set to grant clearances in 30 days.
According to Sharma, the pharma cluster project will help the pharmacy educational institutions in the state to train their students in the industrial units, for which the government will facilitate collaborations among research organizations, pharma industry and educational institutes.
He said a significant number of manufacturing companies from Haryana had shifted to neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for availing the tax exemption benefits. With the implementation of the pharma park project, HPMA will plan for bringing them back to Haryana.
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