KTR Lays Foundation for BE’s Vaccine SEZ Plant

Hyderabad, Feb 6 (Maxim News): Mr. K. T. Rama Rao, Minister for Industries & Commerce, IT, Municipal Administration & Urban Development, unveiled the foundation for a new vaccines plant being constructed by Biological E. Limited (BE) in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Genome Valley in Kolthur Village, located on the outskirts of Hyderabad here.

The Minister was accompanied by Dr. Paul Stoffels, Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Ms. Mahima Datla, Managing Director, BE, Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, IT Secretary, Soumya Swaminathan, Director-general, Indian Council of Medical Research, and Mr. M. Sudheer Reddy, Medchal MLA, at the inaugural event of laying the foundation.

Addressing the gathering on this occasion, the Minister appreciated the expansion efforts of Biological E. Limited in being aligned with the State Government’s vision of industrial expansion, creation of employment and the commitment to make Hyderabad an industrial hub in India and thus realise the dream of the Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekar Rao – the creation of Bangaru Telangana.

He fondly recalled that BE, as one of the foremost Pharmaceutical & Biologics Companies in India, being based out of the State of Telangana, in addition to substantial exports of vaccines, contributes significantly to the Universal Immunization Programme launched by the Government of India.

Welcoming the gathering, Ms. Mahima Datla, Managing Director, BE, thanked the Honourable Minister and Dr. Stoffels, for laying the foundation for the new vaccines plant at the recently approved SEZ. The MD also appreciated the efforts of the Government of Telangana in general and Mr. K T Rama Rao in particular for helping the investors and entrepreneurs in setting up new ventures and industries and creating a conducive environment for smooth execution of business operations.

Elaborating further about the plant, Ms. Mahima said that BE is planning an initial investment of up to Rs.300 crore in this new plant, which would help the existing vaccines plant augment the production and manufacture new products that are in the pipeline. This investment is in line with and part of the already earmarked overall outlay of Rs.1000 crore in the Genome Valley across BE’s Vaccines & Pharma businesses that are underway.

The construction of this new SEZ vaccines plant on about 29 acres of land would be completed by April 2018 and commercial production is expected to begin by December 2019. Ms. Mahima also said that by the time BE’s expansion initiatives in the Genome Valley are completed, an additional employment opportunity for around 1000 people would be generated. (Maxim News)