Pharmaceutical company Bajaj Healthcare Limited has become the first private player in India to be awarded a government contract for the highly-regulated opium processing sector — a development that means the company can use opium to extract active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in medicines such as painkillers, cough syrups, and even cancer drugs.
Made the announcement through a statement Wednesday. The Thane-based Bajaj Healthcare said it had received two letters from the central government on 12 July to manufacture APIs. From processing of unlanced poppy capsule (unopened poppy bulb with its stalk) as well as straw and opium gum (both used to extract alkaloids).
Bajaj Healthcare Secures Contracts for Supply of Opium-Derived Alkaloids and APIs
Anil Jain, the joint managing director of Bajaj Healthcare, said in the statement that the company had been awarded two tenders for the supply of “opium-derived alkaloids & APIs” to the central government under long-term contracts and expects “successive orders under similar tenders, to scale up to processing of 6,000 MT [metric tonnes] of poppy straw & opium gum in the next 5 years”.
“This is for the first time in the history of the nation, that the government has deregulated opiate processing. It has allowed a private player. And we are extremely honoured to be awarded the very first tender in this segment,” Jain said.
The company said it will execute both tenders at their API manufacturing unit in Savli, Gujarat.
Although India is one of the few countries that permit opium cultivation, its processing has so far been highly centralised. In India, opium poppy cultivation is prohibited under Section 8 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Except under a licence issued by the Central Bureau of Narcotics under Rule 8 of NDPS Rules, 1985.