Bhubaneswar: In a significant development for vaccine production sector in India amid the present Covid crisis and possibility of a scary third wave of the pandemic, Odisha government on Thursday announced that it has begun the construction of a much-awaited vaccine production unit in the State.
The unit will come up at Andharua on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar will earn Odisha a place among the selected States in the country having dedicated vaccine manufacturing units.
Because of conducive policies of the State Govt and Ease of doing business reforms and smooth land allotment process of IDCO the construction of vaccine production unit has started at Andharua, BBSR, Odisha I&PR Department informed through a press release today.
The announcement came after a State level Bio-Tech implementation committee meeting by the Chief Secretary.
The State government has informed that the necessary statutory clearances & permissions for the construction of the vaccine production unit have also been granted.
As the Odisha government has set a target to start the production of vaccines especially Covaxin by June 2022, Chief Secretary Mohapatra directed the officials to expedite the construction of the anchor vaccine production unit and laying of other critical infrastructure.
IDCO CMD Sanjay Singh who took part in the meeting with the CS informed that a State of the Art Hub incubation center has been set up near Infocity, Bhubaneswar. A fund of Rs 15 crore has been allocated by the State government to support incubation in biotechnology.
He also said that two floors with around 28 thousand sq ft space can be made available in this center for incubation facilities.
The Odisha government has decided to further develop the incubation center with modern facilities and house the incubation units of MS & ME, IT and Biotechnology in the same building so as to create an advanced and mutually-boosting eco-system of incubation.