KTR irate as Telangana ignored in bulk drug park list

HYDERABAD: Accusing the Union government of continuing with its discrimination against Telangana, IT Minister KT Rama Rao on Friday pointed out that the State did not find mention in the bulk drug park scheme announced by the Centre.

In a letter to the Centre, Rama Rao expressed his displeasure that the life sciences capital of the country and the vaccine capital of the world, Hyderabad, being neglected in allocation of bulk drug park. 
He said that the selection of Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat for the establishment of bulk drug industry is the culmination of Modi government’s discriminatory politics. The Centre has reve-aled its discrimination against Telangana by not even considering Hyderabad, Rama Rao wrote.

He said Telangana continues to attract investments in the sector and therefore, keeping in view the sectoral growth, demand for pharma infrastructure and a robust ecosystem to support the sector towards ‘atma-nirbharta’, the State had submitted an earnest application towards the ‘bulk drug park’ scheme. 

“It was our confide-nce that the significant role of Hyderabad so far and its potential in steering the country towards self-sufficiency in bulk drug manufacturing will be considered objectively. Our proposal contained details of our flagship ‘Pharma City’ project which spread over 19,000 acres and is world’s largest pharma cluster. While this project has garnered worldwide attention, unfortunately it has not been given any consideration in the country,” he wrote.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recognised Hyderabad Pharma City Project as a ‘Project of National Importance’ and has accorded the status of National Investment & Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ), he reminded.