The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has granted in-principle approval for providing grant-in-aid for a bulk drug park proposed at Haroli tehsil in Una district.

The project would cost around Rs 350 crore and the Union Government will provide a grant-in-aid of Rs 100 crore. An investment of Rs 5,000 crore is expected for the medical devices park, which is likely to generate 10,000 jobs.

The Union Cabinet had approved schemes to set up three bulk drug parks in March 2020 to make active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and intermediates, which are pharma raw materials, over the next five years. As much as Rs 1,000 crore was announced for each park.
It is aimed at reducing dependence on China as nearly 65 per cent APIs are imported from there. Covid-induced disruptions in the supply chain had severely hit the pharma industry. This compelled the Union government to strengthen its domestic bulk drug production.
The scheme for the promotion of bulk drug parks is expected to result in incremental production of bulk drugs worth about Rs 46,400 crore. Though it was applicable for five years, more than two and a half years have been lost in completing initial formalities. The state government submitted its approval in October 2020.
The government has set aside 1,400 acres of barren land at Polian Beet, Tibbian, Maluwal and Kutherbeet villages in the Haroli segment of Una district for the project.