Sanofi's Ankleshwar unit to use renewable energy

AHMEDABAD: Sanofi India Limited is exploring the use of renewable energy sources for its manufacturing operations at Ankleshwar site. The company said that it has signed an agreement with wind turbine manufacturer, Suzlon Energy Limited (SEL), for a 2.1 MW (megawatt) offsite windmill installation, to generate renewable power for captive consumption at the site.

In 2012, Sanofi’s Goa manufacturing site demonstrated the utilization of biomass from agro waste to generate energy. In addition to creating employment for local villagers, the biomass project helped reduce the site’s steam cost as well as its dependence on fossil fuel.

“We strongly support the use of renewable energies, and hence initiated a study in 2012 to better understand the local renewable energy market in India to identify available opportunities”, said Dr Shailesh Ayyangar, managing director-India and vice-president South Asia.

The manufacturing site at Ankleshwar- one of Sanofi’s three manufacturing sites in India- produces solid dose formulations and active pharma ingredients. Between its two facilities at Goa and Ankleshwar, Sanofi has the capacity to manufacture 8.5 billion tablets annually.