Lupin gets more time to set up unit at Nagpur Special Economic Zone.

The Commerce Ministry has granted an extension to pharma major Lupin to set up its state-of-the-art formulation manufacturing unit at the MIHAN Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Nagpur. However, a final call on the matter is yet to be taken by the Board of Approval (BoA) for SEZs.

Lupin had sought the extension on the grounds that it is yet to receive approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for drugs that are to be produced at the unit.

'The BoA will take up Lupin's application for extension of letter-of-permission (LoP) for the unit beyond the expiry date of April 22, 2015, at its meeting recently. The Commerce Ministry has granted it an extension on file, but it needs to be ratified by the BoA,' a government official told BusinessLine. The BoA decides on the functioning of SEZs, and includes officials from the ministries of commerce, finance, industry and home.

HBL