Hyderabad: The centre has allocated Rs. 700 crore for establishing centres of excellence at the National Institutes of Pharmaceutical, Education & Research (NIPER).
According to a notice issued by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, the steering committee has approved a budget outlay of Rs. 700 crore for setting up of these centres over a period of five years. Out of the Rs. 700 crore, a sum of Rs. 243 crore has been approved for 2024-25.
At present there are seven NIPERs located in Mohali, Ahmedabad, Hajipur, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Guwahati and Rae Bareli.
On Friday, Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay posted on social media platform saying, “Hyderabad to get a significant boost as PM Narendra Modiji led government sanctioned Rs. 700 crore to establish pharma and med tech centres. This is a big step forward for Telangana as capital city is among the key beneficiaries.”
The Union Cabinet had last year approved the Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma-MedTech sector (PRIP) scheme with an outlay of Rs. 5,000 crore for five years, from 2023-24 to 2027-28. The scheme will be in two parts: preparing capacity in PSUs; provide support to the private sector for research.
Last year, the Parliamentary Panel headed by Shashi Tharoor, that looks into the fund allocation to the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) had recommended that the government allocate more funds for new initiatives, such as the establishment of the National Institute of Medical Devices Education and Research (NIMERs) and Indian Council of Research & Development and Innovation in Pharma-MedTech Sector (ICPMR).