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Centre to shut 2 pharma PSUs IDPL & RDPL; divest HAL, BCPL and KAPL
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Our Bureau, Bengaluru
February 13 , 2021
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The Union government has decided to close two pharma public sector undertakings (PSUs) and disinvest three others. The two pharma PSUs to be shut are Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (IDPL) and Rajasthan Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (RDPL).
The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has five public sector undertakings. Out of the five PSUs, the government has taken a decision to close two of them, said minister of chemicals and fertilisers D V Sadananda Gowda in response to a question in the Lok Sabha.
"The government has also decided to strategically disinvest the other three : Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd (HAL), Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BCPL), and Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceutical Ltd (KAPL),” he added.
According to Gowda, the government has offered voluntary retirement benefits to all employees of IDPL and RDPL. However, the Committee of Ministers constituted on September 9, 2019, will take necessary decisions pertaining to closure/strategic sale of the pharma public sector undertakings, including the sale of assets and clearance of outstanding liabilities.
In January, the Union government had given approval to Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals under the PLI scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical bulk drugs.
The production linked incentive (PLI) scheme aims at promoting manufacture of critical key starting materials (KSMs)/drug intermediates and APIs in the country.
The setting up of plants under the scheme will lead to total committed investment of Rs. 3,761 crore by the companies and employment generation for around 3,825 people, the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers said in a statement.
The applications of Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals, a government of India enterprise, had been accorded the approval for production of 7-ACA, with committed production capacity of 1,000 MT at a committed investment of Rs. 275 crore, the statement said.
"The commercial production is projected to commence from April 1, 2023 and the disbursal of production linked incentives by the government over the six years’ period would be up to a maximum of Rs. 3,600 crore. Setting up of these plants will make the country self-reliant to a large extent in respect of these bulk drugs," the ministry said.
With an objective to attain self-reliance and reduce import dependence in critical bulk drugs -KSMs/ drug intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), Department of Pharmaceuticals had launched a PLI scheme.
The PLI scheme aims at promotion of domestic manufacturing of drugs/KSM/APIs by setting up Greenfield plants with minimum domestic value addition in four different target segments with a total outlay of Rs. 6,940 crore for the period 2020-21 to 2029-30.
"The Target Segment-I includes 4 eligible products, viz., penicillin G; 7-ACA; erythromycin thiocyanate (TIOC) & clavulanic acid, in which the country is presently fully import dependent, were considered on priority as per the decided evaluation and selection criteria.
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