The decision came after the union minister said the Center had approved a bulk drug park in Hyderabad, contradicting the written reply.
Posted on – Fri 16 Dec 22 at 07:51pm
file photo.
Hyderabad: The center got caught in the wrong place in the Lok Sabha on Friday when Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that the center had approved an API park in Hyderabad and would receive Rs 1,000 crore in funding. However, in a written reply to the same question, the center insisted that only Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh were allowed to set up API parks. After making contradictory statements, the BRS decided to file a motion of privilege against the minister, accusing him of misleading the House.
The question came up during question time, when Mandaviya was responding to a question from Nama Nageshwara Rao, Head of Floor, BRS. The minister said the center had received proposals for bulk drug parks from 13 states including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Among them, the proposals of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh were approved, and Rs 9 billion was allocated for the first phase of 2022-23, of which Rs 3 billion has been allocated to Gujarat.
The minister said the API park will help reduce the country’s dependence on chemicals used in other countries’ pharmaceutical industries. India exported APIs worth Rs 3,332 crore in 2021-22. He also said there was no proposal to expand the program to promote bulk drug parks to other states.
However, in response to a supplement from Nageshwara Rao on whether the center has any plans to set up an API park specifically in Hyderabad, a major hub for API manufacturing, Mandaviya told him: “Hyderabad is an important place for the pharmaceutical industry. I Would like to inform MPs that the Center has approved Telangana’s application to set up an API Park in Hyderabad which will receive funding of Rs 1,000 crore.” This verbal reply contradicts the written reply given.
Nageshwara Rao later objected to the discriminatory act of setting up an API park in Telangana in an interview with the media. He said the Telangana government submitted the application for approval of the API Park within the stipulated time. He said that Hyderabad is the country’s largest producer of APIs and is suitable for setting up a park. He reminded that Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and Industry Minister KT Rama Rao had written to the Center several times in this regard but without success.
“Union minister has made false and misleading statements in the House of Representatives and has undermined democracy. Although he did not mention it anywhere in his written reply, the union minister has blatantly lied in parliament saying the center sanctioned Hyderabad and approved Rs 1,000 crore. This is unacceptable. Unfortunately, the union minister himself has made a confusing statement. Center should clarify the issue,” he demanded.
