The proposed establishment of the campus of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in Visakhapatnam has hit a roadblock due to lack of coordination between officials the State and Central governments even as the announcement sanctioning it was made in early 2016.
While the Centre blames it on the State for failure to allot suitable land, sources in the APIIC say they had already identified land near Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City, Parawada. During his recent visit, Rajya Sabha member Y.S. Chowdhary said the Centre had not received a formal proposal from the State government.
The pharma industry, which has high expectation to make North Andhra a hub for active pharmaceutical ingredients and cancer research, has decided to step up lobbying for the NIPER campus to overcome shortage of high-end manpower.
“The proposal is long-pending and we will benefit a lot if it is taken up on a fast-track basis,” JNPC CEO Lal Krishna told The Hindu.
North Andhra, home to prominent pharma units such as Aurobindo Pharma, Reddy’s Lab, Divi’s, Eisai, Hospira and Mylan has an estimated turnover of over ₹30,000 crore. JNPC has no further scope for expansion and there is a growing demand to take up work on a second pharma city in the Public Private Partnership mode.
NIPER is a premier national-level institute with recognition by the industry as a centre of excellence for advanced studies and research in pharmaceutical education. It is an autonomous institute, which functions under the administrative control of the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. It aims to promote leadership in pharmaceutical sciences and related areas not only within the country, but also to the countries in South East Asia, South Asia and Africa.
“We want both the State and the Centre take the initiative to make NIPER operational from the next academic year,” Vizag Development Forum vice-president O. Naresh Kumar said.
