Department of Pharma to help set Common Effluent Treatment plant at Alathur Pharma estate

New Delhi, May 3 (KNN) Following the Supreme Court order that mandated all State Pollution Control Boards to not allow any industrial unit to work if they don’t have the treatment plant, the Department of Pharmaceuticals that operates under Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, has decided to provide financial assistance to set a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETB) and a water recycling unit at the Tamil Nadu’s Alathur Pharma Estate.

This is for the first time that such an incentive is being given by the Pharma Department.

According to media reports, the proposed project amount of 9.89 crores has been sanctioned, of which 10 per cent has already been given to begin the construction of the plant.

The plant is expected to treat three lakh and seventy thousand litres of effluents per day. It is also being seen as an instrumental step to help reuse water from the plant for usage in the industry.  This will help reduce the burden on the nearby villages, on which the industry relies for water at present.

The treatment plant is expected to benefit  around thirteen formulation companies in the Alathur Pharma Estate. These units have earlier approached the Central Government for assistance under the ‘Cluster Scheme’.

South India houses significant number of pharmaceutical companies, with more than 450 units operating in the region. (KNN/ DA)