The government has approved a total of 33 applications with a committed investment of Rs 5,082.65 crore under the production-linked incentive scheme for active pharmaceutical ingredients, an official release said on Thursday. Setting up of these plants will make the country self-reliant to a large extent in respect of these bulk drugs, it noted.

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The Department of Pharmaceuticals has launched a PLI scheme for the promotion of domestic manufacturing by setting up greenfield plants in four different target segments with a total outlay of Rs 6,940 crore for the period 2020-21 to 2029-30. In total, 215 applications have been received for the 36 products spread across the 4 target segments, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said in the release.

Nineteen applications with a committed investment of Rs 4,623.01 crore have already been approved under Target Segment I, II and III, it added. Besides, 174 applications were received for 23 eligible products under Target Segment IV.

Out of 174 applications, 79 applications received for 11 eligible products were considered as per the decided evaluation and selection criteria by the Empowered Committee in its meeting held on February 27, 2021, the release said. The applications of 14 companies that have committed minimum/more than the minimum proposed annual production capacities and fulfill the prescribed criteria have been approved, it added.

The setting up of these plants will lead to a total committed investment of Rs 459.47 crore and employment generation of about 3,715 by the companies, the release noted. The commercial production of these plants is projected to commence from April 1, 2023, onward.

It has been further decided to take up the remaining 95 applications under the Target Segment-IV till March 31, 2021, for scrutiny and approval, as per the release. The government on February 25 also approved a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the pharmaceutical sector, entailing an outlay of Rs 15,000 crore.