Waiting period to come down for industries

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday reiterated that his government was committed to making the process and procedures for setting up new industrial projects in the State easier.

Investors need not run behind officials or individuals for getting clearances. Nor do they have to salute the Chief Minister or Ministers as under the new industrial policy enacted in the State, statutory approvals are to be issued within a fortnight, he said laying the foundation stone for insulin manufacturing facility of Shantha Biotechnics at Muppireddipalli, 40 km from here.

If not issued within the timeframe, the approvals would be deemed to have been given. The State government was of the opinion that entrepreneurs should get the clearances as a matter of right, he said.

With the All India Service officers settling down in their new posts after reallocation between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the State government has been getting ready to implement the new industrial policy. It will make available all applications online, encourage self certification and prune down the number of approvals required. Inviting pharma major Sanofi, which acquired Shantha Biotechnics in 2009, to enhance investments in Telangana, he said the industrial policy would make the process hundred per cent hassle-free for the investor and be in sync with the government’s emphasis on zero tolerance to corruption.

Describing Shantha Biotechnics founder and chairman K.I. Varaprasad Reddy as a “unique diamond”, the Chief Minister said he commanded a lot of respect in the State and society for developing affordable vaccines against Hepatitis B.

Sanofi was investing Rs. 460 crore on the facility to manufacture Insuman, a leading human insulin product from its range of diabetes treatments. This will be its second plant – after the one at Frankfurt, Germany. The 13,400 square metre building and the site will become fully operational by 2019. “We will create a world class facility,” Sanofi vice-president (South Asia) Shailesh Ayyangar said, adding it would supply insulin at affordable prices in the country.

Senior vice-president (Industrial Affairs) of Sanofi Claude Spieser said Hyderabad was strategic for the company and the facility proposed was a high-tech transfer project. “You will get the same technology that runs today in Europe,” he added.

CEO Harish Iyer said the proposed facility will have the capability to ramp up manufacturing volumes to 60 million Insuman cartridges per year.

Waiting period to come down for industries

Investors need not run around officials as statutory approvals will be issued within a fortnight: KCR