Pharmaceutical company Wockhardt Ltd will invest Rs 700 crore to set up a special economic zone (SEZ) for pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing in Aurangabad.
The Mumbai-based company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for establishing the SEZ to be spread over 107 hectares.
"This SEZ will provide the base for a new thrust in international markets that will drive Wockhardt's growth in the coming years," company's Chairman Habil Khorakiwala said.
In its proposal to the MIDC, the company is understood to have put forward an investment plan of Rs 700 crore on the project.
To be established over a period of five years, the SEZ at Shendra in Aurangabad is expected to provide employment to around 2,000 people.
"It will make Aurangabad a major hub for pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries," Khorakiwala said.
The SEZ would house manufacturing facilities for active pharmaceutical ingredients, biopharmaceuticals, research and development centre, effluent treatment plant, a corporate office, warehouse as well as a residential and recreational complex.
The MoU was signed by Rajiv Jalota, MIDC Chief Executive Officer and Huzaifa Khorakiwala, the company's Executive Director in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and other senior ministers and top officials from the state government.
The company said its proposed plants at the SEZ would also be built for international regulatory compliance.
{{/usCountry}}The company said its proposed plants at the SEZ would also be built for international regulatory compliance.
{{/usCountry}}In 2004, Wockhardt inaugurated its Biotech Park, one of the largest biopharmaceuticals complexes in Aurangabad.
It is looking at further investment in biotechnology at the proposed SEZ as part of a plan to accelerate the company's expanding global reach.