With Rs 30K cr turnover, BBN emerges third largest pharma hub in the world
With the Baddi-Braotiwala-Nalagrh (BBN) industrial estate emerging the third largest pharmaceutical industry hub in the world in terms of volume of drug production, the thrust is to go green by adopting eco-friendly techniques and planting 1 lakh saplings.
The BBN estate, exporting drugs to over 200 countries world over, will soon have a Rs 2 crore helipad and to offset the carbon emissions, 1 lakh saplings will be planted.
“The local community and various government agencies with the financial assistance from industry partners will help in the plantation drive which will be protected with the help of tree guards,” said Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri.
With an annual turnover of Rs 30,000 crore, of which Rs 9,500 crore involves exports, Baddi, Himachal Pradesh’s largest industrial township in Solan district, has turned into a major pharmaceutical hub – ranked third globally – manufacturing more than 150 bulk drugs, having demand in 200 countries .
There were concerns over migration of industries after expiry of the central industrial package, sanctioned in 2003 by the NDA government, Agnihotri said, “Sanctioning of Rs 200 crore worth Bulk Drug pharma Park by Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar, besides Bulk Drug Pharma Park and a Satellite extension centre of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) has come as a big boost. There is no chance left for any leading pharma unit to wind-up their operations here.”
There are more than 700 pharmaceutical manufacturing units located in Baddi-Barotwiala-Nalagarh belt, of which 548 are leading drug manufacturers and another 160 cosmetic units ,which also include big names such as Colgate, Godrej, Hindustan Unilever, Wipro and L’Oreal India.
What makes Baddi an important pharma hub is the fact that 130 units comply with the World Health Organisation (WHO) norms and 15 units confirm to the USFDA norms, making them eligible for the international market. Some of the big names in the field of cosmetics like Colgate, Procter and Gamble, Unilever and Wipro too have their units in Baddi.
Around 15 pharmaceutical units have USFDA ( US Food and Drug Administration) approvals. In all, Himachal Pradesh has industrial investments of around Rs 14,000 crore.
