Mumbai: Biocon Ltd, the country''s largest biotechnology firm, plans to invest Rs1,000 crore ($227 million) to set up a bio-pharma plant in Andhra Pradesh. The new facility will come up at the pharmaceutical special economic zone near Visakhapatnam.

Announcing this, Biocon chairman and managing director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said the company would become one of the major anchor investors at the Jawahar Pharma City, an SEZ being developed by the Ramkey group near Visakhapatnam.

The Andhra Pradesh government has allotted 50 acres of land for the project and chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy handed over the allotment letter to Shaw. Shaw was in AP to participate in the Bio-Asia conference.

The company is also taking a 10-acre land in a biotech SEZ in Hyderabad to be developed by Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Company. Shanta Bio is the anchor client for this SEZ.

AP has promised Biocon uninterrupted power and water supply. Biocon has a huge R&D facility in Bangalore and Shaw said the facility would be used for carrying out research activities. All manufacturing-related work will be shifted to at Vizag, she added.