Punjab FinMin meets Gowda over setting up drug park in Bathinda

Finance Minister of Punjab Shri Manpreet Singh Badal met Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda in New Delhi on Monday and handed over a request letter to Shri Gowda, for considering setting up of one of the proposed Bulk Drug Park in Bhatinda in the State of Punjab. Shri Gowda thanked Shri Badal for showing interest in extending support for the development of parks.

New Delhi: Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal met Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Mr. D. V. Sadananda Gowda on Monday and sought the establishment of a national Pharmaceutical Park in Bathinda, after the centre announced its intention to establish three pharmaceutical parks in the country.

While stating that the land has been vacated by the erstwhile Bathinda Thermal Plant, the Finance Minister informed the Union Minister that Bathinda is the best-positioned destination to set up a Pharmaceutical Park, and a tranche of 1350 acre of land is readily available for the venture.

He further said a functional railway siding and infrastructure is also available for the supply of raw materials and carriage for the Pharma industry.

Expressing gratitude towards Gowda for prompt and positive response in providing an opportunity to present the case of Punjab, the Finance Minister requested him to depute a team to visit the site.

"The proposed park in Bathinda could cater to the entire area north of Delhi, reaching out to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, neighbouring Rajasthan, and even Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh," Badal reasoned.

He added that the pharma ecosystem in Punjab is scalable as it is home to some of the biggest USFDA approved pharmaceutical companies like Sun Pharma, Centrient and IOL Chemicals.

The R&D ecosystem of Punjab is bolstered by the presence of ace institutes like NIPER, IISER, Institute of Microbial Research, Institute of Nano Technology, and AIIMS, and it will be hugely beneficial to those companies desirous of setting up a business in Punjab.

The Punjab Finance Minister informed the Union Minister that the erstwhile Bathinda thermal plant was gifted to Punjab to mark the 500 years of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Since the entire nation is currently celebrating 550 years of the Guru Sahib, it would be befitting tribute if we could establish a Pharmaceutical Park. This would be a humble tribute to Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji on his 550th birth anniversary, the Badal added.

Later on, he had a meeting with Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh L. Mandaviya and discussed various issues related to the state, besides conversing modalities and feasibility for the upcoming projects.