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Rs. 30 b pharma zone in Anuradhapura by this year

25 Mar 2021

  • Project is a local investment

  • Land to be leased for 35 yrs

  In order to keep up with the Government’s vision to become a pharma self-sufficient nation in the long term, authorities have decided to establish a pharmaceutical and surgical equipment manufacturing zone at the Oyamaduwa “Deyata Kirula” site in the Anuradhapura District.  The project is expected to be established with an initial local investment of Rs. 30 billion.  Speaking to The Morning Business, State Ministry of Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Secretary Dr. Lakshitha Rajakaruna said that this project is anticipated to build 25 factories and is projected to create 3,000 jobs. “Discussions are currently being carried out with investors for the project which is planned to manufacture a wide range of products including tablets, capsules, liquid medicines, injections, surgical instruments, syringes, surgical needles and sutures, bandages, and plasters,” he said. Accordingly, the land will be leased to the selected local investors for a period of 35 years with a released period for the first five years. He said that the proposal presented by the Health Minister to implement the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals in the proposed pharmaceutical manufacturing zone as well as the supply and regulation of pharmaceuticals as a strategic project under the State Ministry was approved by the Cabinet. Rajakaruna further pointed out that the project is planned to be launched without burdening the Government or the Treasury. “It is projected that after the construction of this manufacturing zone, it will meet one-third of the requirement of pharmaceutical and surgical equipment in Sri Lanka,” he added.  Earlier this month, the Cabinet also decided to set up a state-owned pharmaceutical investment zone in Millewa, Horana with an initial investment of Rs. 8 billion is anticipated to be completed in 2023 with five factories.  The factory will manufacture five types of drugs and capsules and the construction of the factory will be completed in three years. The Treasury will invest in the project, which will save Rs. 20 billion in foreign currency annually.  Two pharma zones had already been established in Arabokka in the Hambantota District and Oyamaduwa in the Anuradhapura District connected to the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC). According to the Government Information Department, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has already been signed between SPC and the Urban Development Authority (UDA) to allocate 64 acres and 83.3 perches in Millewa belonging to the UDA to establish the proposed pharmaceutical zone. In 2017, a 700-acre land in the Millewa Estate was acquired from Kotagala Plantation PLC by the UDA to set up a biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and modernised Ayurvedic cluster under the Horana Industrial Township Project. However, a study conducted by Ernst & Young, ShinNihon LLC projected a high development cost for the proposed cluster. The Horana zone is expected to produce orthopaedic and neurosurgical equipment, anticancer drugs, pills, and capsules, surgical instruments, and lenses.


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