Novartis' Hyderabad facility set to double in size.

Pharma major Novartis has conveyed its interest in doubling the capacity of its Hyderabad-based facility.

Top executives of the company told Industries and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao that plans were afoot to significantly double the size of the existing facility functioning in over 90,000 sq.ft area and add head count of 150 on the research side. Novartis executives told the Minister that the company would communicate the details of its expansion plan to the State government soon.

The issue came up for discussion when the Minister, leading the State’s delegation to World Economic Forum, met the Novartis representatives and explained them about the significant growth that was being witnessed in the pharma sector in the city and the proposed pharma city coming up in the State. The city had already earned the reputation of being the life sciences capital of the country and establishment of pharma city would give a major push to the sector in the coming days. Novartis currently operates a research and development centre along with data support and analytics from its Hyderabad facility and the company’s representatives expressed satisfaction over the cooperation extended by the government.

The State delegation met representatives of the Mitsubhishi Heavy Industries who explained about their plans for major projects. The company was particularly keen to invest on development of industrial estates as well as waste management sectors. Mr. Rama Rao told the Mitsubhishi team that the State offered huge potential in the industrial estates sector. He asked the company to depute a team of representatives to inspect the facilities and prospects here and take the initiative of setting up a small and medium enterprises park.

Mr. Rama Rao met Air Asia group CEO Anthony Fernandes and held discussions about the trends in the aviation sector. He said aviation sector was expected to witness significant growth in the coming days and the company could consider expanding its operations here.

The Minister also met representatives of solar energy, power, medical devices manufacturing and explained them about the opportunities offered by Telangana in these sectors.

THE HINDU