Orchid shuts Alathur plant on pollution concerns
12 Jul 2011
Bulk drug maker Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd today announced the closure of a factory following an order of Tamil Nadu's pollution control agency on solid waste disposal.
The company's Alathur plant, is its oldest (operational since 1994) and one of the largest integrated antibiotic manufacturing complexes in India, producing a wide range of pharmaceuticals.
The company's chairman and managing director, Raghavendra Rao, told IANS that the closure order was in connection with method of disposing the solid waste. He added that the company was in dialogue with TNPCB (Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board) and hoped to start production soon.
Rao said there was no problem with respect to liquid effluents as the plant was a zero discharge facility.
Responding to a question about the financial impact on the company due to production stoppage, he said, the company had sufficient stocks for a short time, however if the closure stretched over a longer duration, there would be a financial impact on the company.
The US health regulator, US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), had recently approved the facility that has now been shut down.
