As panacea for land problem, Pharma City may dot Palamur

​Mahbubnagar: The much-hyped Pharma City planned at Mucherla in Ranga Reddy might now shift to Kadthal in Amangal mandal of Mahabubnagar, on account of land acquisition problems. According to sources, the District Collector Dr TK Sridevi, visited the Amangal mandal and conducted a review meeting with the revenue department regarding land acquisition for the proposed Pharma City.

Earlier in 2014, the government had proposed to set up the Pharma City at Mucherla spread across 12, 500 acres. But as the majority of land in this region is under the control of private holders, it is becoming difficult to procure land for the SEZ. Keeping this in view, the government has now shifted its focus to alternative regions. Kadthal and Amangal mandals in Mahbubnagar are having surplus ‘government and assigned lands’ which can be acquired easily for the pharma city.

• Pharma City project may shift to Amangal
• Government facing land pooling problems in Ranga Reddy district
• District administration told to acquire required land in next 2-3 months

The government had asked the District Collector to acquire a land bank of 4000 acres for the pharma city in Amangal. The amount of land required for setting up the SEZ is estimated to be about 2300 acres. As the government already has a land bank of 1, 650 acres available with it, the remaining land is expected to be acquired very soon.

Once this land is acquired, the works on the project will be started and this is going to provide direct and indirect jobs to thousands of people in the region. “Earlier, the government of late YS Rajashekhar Reddy in united Andhra Pradesh, had allocated an area of 1,642.38 acres to Deccan Infrastructure Land Holdings Limited (DIL) for setting up a textile park.

However, the company could not execute the project and after formation of Telangana State, the present government cancelled the earlier allocation to the DIL and took back the land. “Now, this land bank can be utilized for the setting up of the pharma city SEZ,” informed a senior official in the Industries department.

In addition to this, the government had directed the district administration of Mahbubnagar to acquire the remaining land needed for the pharma city in the next 2-3 months. “Recently the State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation authorities sought a land bank of 4, 000 acres in Mahbubnagar.

In view of this we are planning to acquire the required land as per the new land acquisition G.O. No 123. There are 11 Thandas and other small hamlets surrounding Amangal and Kadthal which would make way for the pharma city,” said the official.

The Pharma City is expected to generate investments to the tune of thousands of crores in the pharmaceutical sector in the State as the proposed industrial city is a comprehensive setup which will incorporate not only the industrial parks, but will also have a pharma university and residential apartments for the workers and employees in addition to an advanced research institute.

The pharma city is being tipped as a great boon for the district as it will provide jobs to thousands and help improve the livelihood of the people. However, the major challenge would be the rehabilitation of the tribals in the hamlets.