Bulk drug park relocation a big boost to Vizag

On Positive Side

♦ Parawada near Vizag is already home to JNPC

♦ Nakkapalli has SEZ by Hetero Drugs

With the decision to locate the proposed BDP at Nakkapalli, the area is expected to become the second Pharma City of AP and give a big boost to pharma exports - PP Lal Krishna JNPC CEO, tells Bizz Buzz

Visakhapatnam: The State Cabinet decision to relocate the Bulk Drug Park (BDP) proposed at Kakinada Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) to Nakkapalli will make Visakhapatnam another bulk drug hub in Andhra Pradesh like Hyderabad. However, environmentalists and local fishermen expressing concerns over the BDP project.

Parawada near to the port city and is already home to Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City (JNPC), the largest cluster of pharma units in AP. Close to it Nakkapalli has an SEZ by Hetero Drugs. With the decision to locate the proposed BDP at Nakkapalli, the area is expected to become the second Pharma City of AP and give a big boost to pharma exports, JNPC CEO PP Lal Krishna told Bizz Buzz. He said availability of ecosystem might have been the reason for change of project site for the BDP.

Out of Rs1,441 crore required for development of common infrastructure facilities at BDP, the Centre will give Rs1,000 crore, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Bhagwant Khuba told the Parliament recently in response to a question by BJP member GVL Narasimha Rao. BDP under the Centre’s scheme has been sanctioned to AP, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

Pharma units in North Andhra account for an export turnover of over Rs45,000 crore with JNPC accounting for a lion’s share in it.

The State Government has promised allotment of land at Rs2.1 per square meter for 33 years, 100 per cent waiver of stamp duty, interest subsidy of 3 per cent on term loans taken on fixed capital investments by new small and medium entrepreneurs and reimbursement of 100 per cent net SGST accrued for 10 years.

Sources said BDP will come up in part of the 5,500 acres acquired by AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) for various industries as part of Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC). The decision to relocate the project has generated heat in various circles here. Earlier, the State earmarked 2000.46 acres in KSEZ in Thodangi mandal in Kakinada district. It is not clear whether due to opposition by Left parties and local activists led to change of the project site. A source said the Centre might have insisted on locating the prestigious project in a government land.

“Whether Kakinada or Nakkapalli, the location of BDP will lead to destruction of ocean resources and deprive fisherfolk their livelihood,” said M Appalaraju, chairman of VCIC Displaced Persons’ Protection Committee. He participated in a protest programme against the Cabinet decision at Nakkapali on Thursday.

Commenting on the development, social activist and former IAS officer EAS Sarma said: “The Centre’s announcement that a BDP has been sanctioned for AP, to be set up around Nakkapalli, has serious implications for the health of the residents in that area.”

He said, “everyone in these parts, at the receiving end of an existing unit, Hetero Drugs, know how irresponsible the promoters of such bulk drug units are and how corrupt the regulatory authorities have been, which has made this region a hub of fatal industrial accidents and a region where toxic pollution has become commonplace.”