Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Pharma City will not be moving forward owing to legal complexities and opposition from farmers who refuse to sell their land, state industry and IT minister D Sridhar Babu announced here during an interaction with the media on Wednesday, February 28.
“The government has decided to wind up the Hyderabad Pharma City project, keeping legal issues around it in view, environmental concerns and farmer demands,” he said while attending the two-day 2024 BioAsia event in Hyderabad.
However, the government has plans to promote ten pharma villages capable of generating nearly 5 lakh employment opportunities with an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore, he said.
“We would like to promote the industry across Telangana. To start with, we will set up 10 pharma villages. Of these, three will be set up in Nalgonda, Vikarabad and Medak districts. Each of these projects will be taken up in 1,000-2,000 acres. We will talk to the prospective investors and assess their land requirement,” he added.
He further said that the Congress government is determined to continue Hyderabad’s development with ‘good policies’. “If there are any lapses and inefficiencies, we don’t mind changing them. We will continue and better all the good policies,” he said.
Ambitious project by BRS
The mega USD 10-billion or Rs 83,320 crore Hyderabad Pharma City (HPC) was an ambitious project of the previous BRS government. On June 7, 2023, the then IT minister KT Rama Rao who flagged off the project, said it would compete on a global level and attract investments, generating large employment opportunities in Telangana. It was projected as the city’s biggest cluster of pharmaceutical manufacturers with main focus on research and development.
The BRS government had planned to acquire 18,000 acres of land, of which 10,000 acres have been already attained.
However, the project was delayed when local farmers raised objections stating they would lose their land in the name of development and no proper compensation would be provided.
When the new Congress government came to power in December last year, chief minister Revanth Reddy reviewed the Hyderabad Pharma City project and pointed out issues in land acquisition, including legal tangles.
50k jobs in next 5-6 years: Babu
Babu announced that the state government plans to create job opportunities for 50,000 local graduates in the next 5-6 years. He said that the government is committed to making them industry-ready for life sciences research and manufacturing.
“In a weeks’ time, we will start the pilot batch under our skilling initiative with two specialised courses – medicinal chemistry and analytical chemistry,” Babu said.
The minister further said that a pilot project with two specialised courses – medicinal chemistry and analytical chemistry – has been initiated by the state government.
“The state government has started the pilot project of setting up a clinical registry at three sites. A clinical registry will not only enhance healthcare outcomes but also facilitate better allocation and utilisation of resources,” Babu said.
C4IR Telangana inaugurated
The minister also inaugurated the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Telangana (C4IR Telangana) which aims at creating 10,000 jobs in healthcare, technology, R&D and manufacturing, besides nurturing 20 to 25 startups and 10-25 novel ideas through its registry.
As mentioned above, the government has recognised three sites concerning the clinical registry with haemophilia indication.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that a clinical registry enhances the healthcare outlook and opens doors for immense possibilities in the sector.
” The Telangana government had expedited the validation of innovative products through Sandbox partnering with 15 clinical sciences. This would help to drive innovative studies from India and through this initiative, the government would try to set a benchmark in the healthtech ecosystem,” Babu said.
C4IR Telangana would play a vital role in creating job opportunities in the state, the minister added.
Life science policy soon
Industries and IT minister D Sridhar Babu announced the launch of a new life science policy in the next few months. The policy will include life sciences, pharma, policies and regulations.
The state government will be launching “a new dynamic life sciences policy which will be a fusion between technology, life sciences, pharma, policy and regulatory agencies,” the minister announced.
