AP announces life sciences policy, eyes Rs 20k crore investments

​HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh government on Monday announced its first, probably the last in the united state, exclusive life sciences industrial promotion policy aimed at attracting investments of more than Rs 20,000 crore over the next five years.

The five year policy to end in 2019 aims at $13.5 billion of market with emphasis on biotechnology, medical devices, bio services, pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. The Southern India government hopes the sector to report exports of at least Rs 60,000 crore by 2019 and help over 50,000 persons to gain employment.

The major initiative of the policy is to declare life sciences sector as an industrial category with set of initiatives that would ease compliance of procedures through single window system. It also offers to provide power at industrial tariff which are hitherto was being levied at commercial tariff, besides promising uninterrupted power supply for units manufacturing life saving drugs.