NAGPUR: Even as the power supply imbroglio in Mihan-SEZ continues, drugmaker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has deferred plans to invest here. Glenmark had made inquiries for investing in Mihan earlier this year and would have followed another pharma major Lupin Pharma that already has a unit here.
Sources in Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) say Glenmark had come up with a proposal to acquire 15 acres land in the
SEZ with an investment of Rs 50 crore. It would have created 200 direct jobs. Recently this company informed MADC that the plans had been pushed to the next year. A source in Glenmark confirmed the development and said the plans were changed as funds were not allotted for the project during the current fiscal. A decision may be taken in the next financial year, he said.
Sources in MADC suspect this might not be the only reason for Glenmark to put its plans for Mihan on hold. It has been learnt that Glenmark was also making informal inquiries about the situation in Mihan. It is learnt that Glenmark's team handling the Mihan assignment was also briefed by another player in pharmaceutical sector about the power supply crisis here. This might have prompted the company to put its plans on hold till the crisis was resolved, said a source.
A Glenmark official negotiating with Mihan denied the theory saying the company was not even aware of any power supply problem in Mihan. Meanwhile, some other pharmaceutical companies had also made inquires in Mihan but none of the deals have materialized so far. These include Bharat Serum, Medley Labs and Ajanta Pharma.
Glenmark had plans to start a start a formulation unit in Mihan. Even Lupin's operations are currently limited to formulations related to research and development. It plans to start commercial production only after a couple of years. Even though the cost of power does not make much difference to the company now, once commercial production starts, tariffs will matter in assessing the unit's operational feasibility, said a source here.
Cheap power was one of the reasons pulling investors to Mihan. A decision in the matter by the state's power regulator Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) is due on May 6. Till then as a stop-gap arrangement, electricity is being supplied by state-owned MSEDCL that charges over Rs 10 a unit as against Rs 3.3 by Abhijeet Group that had set up a captive power plant for Mihan.
Abhijeet Group pulled out this month on the grounds it was no longer feasible to continue the supply due to a meager demand of just 2 MW in Mihan. The case is being heard by MERC.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com