Brushing aside environmental concerns, the Telangana government is set to fast track the mega Pharma City project on the Hyderabad-Warangal highway to host pharma firms, research and development centres, and a pharma university, making it a one-stop cluster for pharma and healthcare companies and service providers.
The decision is based on the assessment that several pharma suppliers could shift out of China post-COVID-19 and that it is ideal time to attract them into the state and to consolidate Hyderabad’s pre-eminent position in the pharma sector. Plots near Pharmacity
However, the project, to be located at about 50 kms from the city, has raised the hackles of environmentalists who warn that it could destroy the natural ecosystem, polluting air, water and land.
“Given the past experience, we are extremely worried about the public health hazards that the proposed Pharma City will cause. There is bound to be further deterioration of the environment,” noted environmentalist activist Prof Purushotham Reddy said.
Global cluster
Having already acquired 8,400 acres for the project, the government is now planning to acquire another 6,800 acres over the next three months. The entire project is being planned in three phases, spread over 19,333 acres, and targeted for completion by 2025, as per the masterplan of the Hyderabad Pharma City (HPC) project.
Sources say that the government is keen on rolling out phase-I by this year-end, to cash in on the greater demand for drug and vaccine formulations and pharma and life sciences sectors in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are setting a new international benchmark for smart, sustainable and integrated industrial development model here. We are not competing with any other state but with China and the rest of the world,” the State Industries Minister K T Rama Rao said.
