Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has chosen 11 pharmaceutical companies to manufacture nine key starting materials (KSMs), drug intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme. Another list of companies that are eligible under the PLI scheme for products that come under the final Segment-IV category will be taken up for approval before February 28, the ministry stated.
The eligible firms and the products they will manufacture are Natural Biogenex Private Limited (Betamethasone, Dexamethasone, Prednisolone), SymbiotecPharmalab Private Limited (Prednisolone), Macleods Pharmaceutical Limited (Rifampicin), Optimus Drugs Private Limited (Vitamin B1, Streptomycin), Sudarshan Pharma Industries Limited (Vitamin B1), Saraca Laboratories Limited (1,1 Cyclohexane Diacetic Acid), Emmennar Pharma Private Limited (1,1 Cyclohexane Diacetic Acid), Hindys Lab Private Limited (1,1 Cyclohexane Diacetic Acid), Aarti Speciality Chemicals Limited (2-Methyl-5NitroImidazole ), Meghmani LLP (Para amino phenol) and Sadhana Nitro Chem Limited (Para amino phenol). Sadhana's approval is conditional and is linked to the outcome of a court verdict.
The ministry said in a statement that the setting up of these plants will lead to a total committed investment of Rs 862.01 crore by the companies and employment generation of about 1,763. "With this, a total of 19 applications with committed investment of Rs 4623.01 crore have been approved by the government. The commercial production is projected to commence from April 1, 2023 onwards and the disbursal of production linked incentive by the government over the six years period would be up to a maximum of Rs 4,870 crore. Setting of these plants will make the country self-reliant to a large extent in respect of these bulk drugs," it stated.
The PLI scheme is meant to promote domestic manufacturing by setting up greenfield plants with minimum domestic value addition in four different Target Segments (in two fermentation based - at least 90 per cent and in the two chemical synthesis based - at least 70 per cent ) with a total outlay of Rs 6,940 crore for the period 2020-21 to 2029-30.
The ministry had invited applications under four different Target Segments with November 30, 2020 as the last date. Overall, the ministry received 215 applications for the 36 products spread across the 4 Target Segments. Five applications with a committed investment of Rs.3,761 crore have already been approved under Target Segment I.
Also read: Cabinet approves PLI scheme for pharmaceuticals, to bring Rs 15,000 cr investment