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Punjab FM meets Union minister, seeks pharma park in Bathinda
Says the establishment of a pharmaceutical park at Bathinda will provide direct employment to around 100,000 people and indirect employment to nearly 200,000 people
Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal on Friday met Union minister for chemicals, fertilisers and pharmaceuticals Mansukh Mandaviya in Delhi, seeking establishment of a pharmaceutical park in Bathinda.
Manpreet said the pharmaceutical park will serve the entire country, particularly the northern region, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
“Being a border state, Punjab must employ its youth productively to avoid them falling victim to sinister designs emanating from our hostile neighbours,” said Manpreet, while adding that the establishment of a pharmaceutical park at Bathinda will provide direct employment to around 100,000 people and indirect employment to nearly 200,000 people.
He stressed that the presence of a fully operational “A” level railway station, availability of over 1,350 acres and proximity to the Bathinda Oil Refinery made this site ideal for establishing a pharma park.
“134 acres of water bodies, lakes and ponds bolster the land cluster greatly, providing many additional benefits for establishing, maintaining and operating a pharma facility,” Manpreet said.
He assured that the pharma industry here will receive substantial support from some of the largest USFDA-approved pharmaceutical companies, such as Sun Pharma, Centrient and IOL Chemicals.
“Bathinda will also benefit from an R&D ecosystem comprising NIPER, IISER and Institute of Nano-Technology in Mohali, besides AIIMS and Institute of Microbial Technology at Bathinda,” he added.
