HYDERABAD: Officials of the city-based Telangana State Veterinary Biological & Research Institute (TSVBRI), which has not got permission from the Pollution Control Board (PCB) to expand its vaccine production facility, plan to approach the Medak district collector for allotment of land in the district for setting up the institute.
Currently, the institute, which has vaccine production and disease investigation divisions, is spread over 12 acres of land at Shanti Nagar in the city.
The animal husbandry department, to which VBRI belongs, has been trying since 2012 for land to build a new facility. A proposal was submitted to the government of the then united Andhra Pradesh state. It submitted fresh proposals twice in 2014 to the principal secretary of the Telangana animal husbandry and fisheries department.
“In October 2014, we sought a particular site measuring about 16 acres at Karkapatla in Medak district. The land belongs to the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC). But 5 acres of that land has been sold. We made a request in December for allotment of at least the remaining land. We now plan to approach the district collector to renew our request,” said Dr G Hanmanth Reddy, joint director of TSVBRI.
As of now, the research institute produces Rs 18 crore worth of vaccines for animals per annum. While most of the vaccines are distributed in Telangana, the institute earns around Rs 8 crore a year by supplying its products to Andhra Pradesh and Odisha states.
While bacterial, viral and poultry viral vaccines are produced now, the institute wants to increase production at the new facility. “The land at Karkapatla will be ideal for construction of a new institute as the area has enough supply of water and electricity. As PCB rejected our proposal to expand the existing facility in the city, we would be able to step up production if we have facility on a bigger site,” Reddy said.
It would take at least four years for the facility to be completely ready.