USV Pharma announces Rs 400-cr plant in Vadodara

On the heels of government announcing tax incentives on new investments, pharma company USV Thursday announced a Rs 400-crore investment for a plant in Gujarat. The investment will be made for a new formulation plant that will come up in Vadodara in south Gujarat, the company said in a statement.

To spur new investments, which has been wanting for long, the government last week had steeply cut income tax on revenue from new investments to a low 15 percent, which is on par with the levy in many emerging economies. "The announcement has provided the much-needed boost to pharma manufacturing that requires huge investments to make world-class drugs," USV said.

The tax cut will increase capital spending and generate employment in the sector, it added. The plant at Vadodara will be the fourth facility for the 55-year-old firm, after plants in Baddi in Himachal, Daman and Chiplun in Maharashtra.

Managing director Prashant Tewari said the work on the new facility will start next month and on completion will create 350 jobs. The company plans to manufacture diabetes and hypertension drugs at the new facility and will serve for both domestic as well as exports markets, he added. Apart from the new plant, it is also investing separately in an active pharmaceutical ingredient plant at Ambernath near here..