Page 147 - CW E-Magazine (30-7-2024)

Pharmaceuticals Hydrocarbons

RESILIENT GROWTH OVERSEAS PRESENCE
Bulk drug exports up, import dependency tackled ONGC acquires Equior stake in Azerbaijan oilfi elds

with PLI boost: Economic Survey ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL), the over- stake in the oilfi eld and a 0.737 percent

seas investment arm of state-owned Oil stake in the pipeline. The statement
India was a net exporter of bulk was 2.3 percent, compared with the The Survey noted that export and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), made no mention of this.
drugs in FY2023-24, but the country CAGR of 5.9 percent in their export. growth occurred due to consistent has acquired Norwegian fi rm Equinor’s
continues to be dependent on imports innovation in the last 5-6 decades. The stake in an Azerbaijan oilfi eld and an Originally, OVL acquired a 2.72
for many antibiotic active pharmaceuti- The Economic Survey noted that export growth can be sustained by associated pipeline. percent stake in ACG in March 2013.
cal ingredients (APIs) manufactured PLI schemes for bulk drugs and pharma- increasing the capabilities in biopharma-
through fermentation, according to the ceuticals have helped stabilise the ceuticals manufacturing. In a statement, OVL said it had ACG contract extension till 2049
Economic Survey 2023-24. import of bulk drugs and improved signed a “defi nitive sale purchase agree- Equinor, in December last year, was signed between fi eld partners and
the supply chain resilience. Under the India at present has around 60,000 ment (SPA) for directly acquiring 0.615 announced an agreement to sell all its SOCAR in September 2017. As per the
India’s import dependency of APIs scheme, fermentation-based manu- generic brands across 60 therapeutic percent participating interest (PI) in remaining assets in Azerbaijan to restated and amended production shar-
is largely due to a lack of cost-effective facturing capabilities got strengthened categories accounting for 20 percent offshore Azeri Chirag Gunashli (ACG) SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan ing agreement (PSA) for the extension
options in domestic API manufacturing through production of antibiotics global generic drug exports by volume. oil fi eld in Azerbaijan from Equinor”. Republic). The assets comprised a 7.27 period, the stakes of international oil
compared with imports, the Survey such as Penicillin G and Clavulanic Pharma exports (overall) were valued The agreement also includes acquiring percent non-operated interest in the companies were reduced with OVL’s
noted. Acid. at Rs. 2,19,439-crore in FY24 and the 0.737 percent shares of the Baku Tbilisi Azeri Chirag Gunashli oil fi elds in the interest becoming 2.31 percent from
industry is expected to reach a value Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline company Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, 2.72 percent. BP is the operator of the
During FY24, the value of ex- PLI scheme of $130-bn by 2030. “The next leg of through its wholly-owned subsidiary 8.71 percent interest in the Baku-Tbilisi- fi eld with a 30.37 percent stake. The
port bulk drugs was Rs. 39,632-crore The PLI scheme for bulk drugs has growth in pharma necessitates skill ONGC BTC Limited. it added. Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline and 50 percent remaining stake in the fi eld is divided
and imports were to the tune of approved 48 projects with a committed advancement, the use of innovation and in the Karabakh fi eld. between Japanese fi rms and Exxon-
Rs. 37,722-crore. The CAGR of import investment of Rs. 3,938.6-crore to technology and the establishment of a The acquisitions, expected to be Mobil.
of bulk drugs between FY22 and FY24 bolster local manufacturing. strong supply chain,” it noted. completed in the upcoming months, SOCAR already held a 25.0 percent
involve a total investment of up to stake in ACG, a 25.0 percent stake in “ACG is a super-giant offshore
GROWTH PLANS $60-mn. BTC via Azerbaijan BTC Ltd., and 50 oil fi eld in the Caspian Sea operated
Sanofi Healthcare India to invest Euro 400-mn in OVL currently has a 2.31 percent percent in Karabakh. by oil major BP since 1999. The fi eld
has been developed in phases, and a
expanding Hyderabad’s GCC stake in the ACG fi eld and 2.36 per- It is not clear how Eqinor, which seventh production platform, Azeri Central
cent in the BTC pipeline. The buyout of had agreed to sell all of its stake to East, has been commissioned in early
Sanofi Healthcare India Pvt. Ltd. being a medical hub to now providing Intelligence (AI) at scale. We intend to Equinor will help raise its stake. SOCAR, ended up selling a 0.615 percent 2024,” the statement said.
(SHIPL) plans to invest Euro 400-mn several services to Sanofi ’s global func- onboard talent at the Hyderabad hub
in capacity expansion of its Global tions and affi liates across the world. to embrace the power of AI across Q1 capex of IOC, ONGC tops Rs. 8,000-crore
Capability Centre (GCC), Hyderabad our value chain,” said Mr. Emmanuel
including Euro 100-mn by 2025. “Our ambition is to be the fi rst bio- Frenehard, Executive Vice President, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) spent are spending on various projects
pharma company powered by Artifi cial Chief Digital Offi cer, Sanofi . about Rs. 8,500-crore and ONGC from refi nery expansions to petro-
Over the next two years, the GCC around Rs. 8,000-crore in capital chemical & biofuel plants, pipelines,
will expand to host up to 2,600 emplo- Dr. Reddy’s inks licensing pact with expenditure in the fi rst quarter of this depots and natural gas distribution
yees, making it the largest of Sanofi ’s fi nancial year, using up about a quarter infrastructure. A chunk of HPCL’s
four global hubs. These hubs are key Takeda to sell gastrointestinal drug of their annual spending budget. investment is going into its greenfi eld
‘nerve-centres’ that enable centralisa- refi nery in Barmer, which has seen
tion and modernisation and allow for Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories said The company has entered into a State-run oil companies have massive cost escalation. ONGC and
scaling-up opportunities across Sanofi ’s it has inked a licensing pact with non-exclusive patent licensing agree- a combined capex target of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Oil India mainly spend on exploration
value chain, offering a wide array of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company to ment with Takeda for the commer- Rs. 118,500-crore for FY2024-25. They Ltd. (21%), GAIL (19%), Oil India and production.
services ranging from commercial, commercialise Vonoprazan tablets in cialisation of the product, the Hydera- spent Rs. 26,500-crore in April-June (18%) and Bharat Petroleum Corpo-
manufacturing & supply to R&D and India. Vonoprazan is a novel, orally bad-based drug fi rm said in a statement. quarter, about 22% of their annual ration Ltd. (12%) were slower spen- HPCL spent Rs. 2,680-crore while
digital. active potassium competitive acid target, according to the oil ministry data. ders, bringing down the average for BPCL incurred an expenditure of
blocker (PCAB), used to treat refl ux Dr. Reddy’s said it will market Vono- IOC (27%) and ONGC (26%) spent the state oil fi rms. Rs. 1,600-crore in the April-June quarter.
Established in 2019, the Hyderabad esophagitis and other acid peptic prazan tablets under its own trademark more than the average for state-run GAIL spent Rs. 1,500-crore and Oil
hub has grown exponentially from disorders. Vono in strengths of 10-mg and 20-mg. oil companies. Refi ners IOC, HPCL and BPCL India Rs. 1,200-crore.

146 Chemical Weekly July 30, 2024 Chemical Weekly July 30, 2024 147

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