Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal on Monday met the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers DV Sadananda Gowda to seek the establishment of a national Pharmaceutical Park in Bathinda.

The Finance Minister informed the Union Minister that Bathinda is the best positioned destination to set up a Pharmaceutical Park, and a tranche of 1350 acre of land is readily available for the venture. The land has been vacated by the erstwhile Bathinda Thermal Plant.

Further, a functional railway siding and infrastructure is also available for the supply of raw materials and carriage for the Pharma industry, he told the Union Minister.

Manpreet also thanked Gowda for his prompt and positive response in providing an opportunity to present Punjab’s case. The Centre has already announced its intention to establish three pharmaceutical parks in the country.

The Finance Minister also requested the Union Minister to depute a team to visit the site.

“The proposed park in Bathinda could cater to the entire area north of Delhi, reaching out to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, neighbouring Rajasthan, and even Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh,” reasoned Manpreet.

He added that the pharma ecosystem in Punjab is scalable as it is home to some of the biggest US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved pharmaceutical companies like Sun Pharma, Centrient, and IOL Chemicals.

Punjab’s research and development (R&D) ecosystem is bolstered by the presence of ace institutes like National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Institute of Microbial Research, Institute of Nano Technology, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and this will be hugely beneficial to those companies desirous of setting up business in Punjab, he added.

Manpreet informed the Union Minister that the erstwhile Bathinda thermal plant was gifted to Punjab to mark the 500 years of Guru Nanak Dev. “Since the entire nation is currently celebrating 550 years of the Guru Sahib, it would be befitting tribute if we could establish a Pharmaceutical Park. This would be a humble tribute to Guru Nanak Dev on his 550th birth anniversary,” he added.

Later, Manpreet also had a meeting with Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh L Mandaviya and discussed various Punjab related issues, besides conversing modalities and feasibility for the upcoming projects.