Mumbai: Maharashtra calls upon Centre to clear grants for bulk drug, medical devices parks 

Mumbai: Maharashtra has made a fresh request to the Centre for grants so it can attract the bulk drug and medical devices parks to the state. 

For the bulk drug park, the State Government has sought Rs1,000 crore. It has said that 2,500 acres of land has already been acquired by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation in Raigad. The site is adjacent to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and about 50km away from Dighi port in Raigad. 

Industry minister's announcement

Industry minister Uday Samant recently announced that Maharashtra is ready to invest nearly Rs 5,000 crore in the project, expecting an investment of Rs50,000 crore in return.

The Centre has proposed three bulk drug parks in the country and sought proposals from states for incentive schemes promising a grant of Rs1,000 crore to each of the top three schemes. On Sept 1, 2022, the Department of Pharmaceuticals conveyed an in-principle approval to proposals by Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, but not Maharashtra.

Maharashtra has also appealed to the Centre to provide a grant of Rs450 crore for the development of a medical device park on 350 acres of land at Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) under the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor. The previous MVA government, in 2020, had sent the proposal to the Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers under its ‘Promotion of Medical Devices Parks’ scheme. However, the Ministry gave nod to similar proposals by Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Interestingly, the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers on Sept 14 last year, in a reply to the letter by Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, said, “The department received proposals from 16 states/UTs, including Maharashtra”, which didn’t get the nod.