Bhubaneswar: In a step towards creating employment opportunities through industrialisation in pharmaceutical sector, the state government has initiated steps to set up a Bulk Drug Park at Gopalpur in Ganjam district.
Holding a high-level meeting in this regard, Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy Friday approved the proposal for setting up the park in Tata SEZ (special economic zone) at Gopalpur.
Tripathy directed the Industry department to form a State Implementing Agency (SIA) in the shape of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and work out a detailed proposal in this regard within a fortnight.
The site is well connected with port and railways for communication. It is less than two hours reach from Biju Pattnaik International Airport here. There is also an air strip at Gopalpur which can be utilised for swift communication, official sources said.
Around 1,000 acre land required for the park is available at the SEZ. The land is well connected with National Highway-16 which is considered as the spine for proposed Odisha Economic Corridor, the source said.
It was decided at the meeting that an SPV will be formed involving IDCO as lead promoter and TSSZEL (Tata Group) and co-promoter to carry forward the project proposal.
Industry Secretary Hemant Sharma said that the park would have all the advanced infrastructure facilities including central effluent treatment plant, solid waste management facilities, warehousing, dedicated power distribution system, steam generation and distribution system, common cooling system, advanced testing laboratories, centre of excellence, technology business incubator, intellectual property right services and the like.
The cost of infrastructure development in the park was estimated to be around Rs 1,500 crore. The project would be implemented through financial support both from Union and state governments, he said.
Sharma further said that the park would create employment opportunities for around 5,000 people. The Chief Secretary asked the officials concerned to send the proposal to Government of India by September 25 for necessary approval.