HYDERABAD: Pharma giant
Aurobindo Pharma
expects its upcoming Penicillin-G (
Pen-G
) facility at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to commence
commercial production
in the
April-June 2024 quarter
, top officials of the company told TOI.
“The production will commence in the first quarter of financial year 2024-25. Currently we are trying to stabilise the processes at the facility,” K Nityananda Reddy, vice chairman & managing director Aurobindo Pharma told TOI here.
The 15,000 metric tonnes per annum capacity facility is being set up at an investment of around Rs 2,400 crore under the Centre’s production linked incentive (
PLI
) scheme as part of efforts to make India self-sufficient after supply chain disruptions during Covid-19. China has a near monopoly in Pen-G production.
“The PLI unit should get operational by April-May 2024. We are working very hard to make it faster. Trial production, we will be starting anytime now,” added Aurobindo Pharma chief financial officer S Subramanian.
However, Subramanian pointed out that the ramping up of the Pen-G plant to full capacity would be possible only by the second quarter of FY25.
Aurobindo Pharma CFO also said the company is also putting up other forward derivatives plants for Pen-G such as 6-APA and GCLE. While the 6-APA facility is expected to become operational in Q1 of FY25, the GCLE facility will take another year for completion, Subramanian explained.
While around 60% of the Pen-G plant production would be for captive use, the company would be selling the rest to other players. “About 80-90% of the 15,000 MTPA Pen-G would be sold in the Indian market and the rest would be exported, Subramanian added.
The investment in the Pen-G facility is part of the Rs 5,000 crore capex that the company has incurred on setting up around 8-10 new manufacturing facilities over the past 3-4 years with plans for another Rs 1,000 crore capex over the next 1-2 years, he said.