India's future economic development depends on NE: Jamir

Panaji, Mar 26 (UNI) The Centre should focus its attention more on the North-Eastern region on which depends the country's future economic development, Governor S C Jamir said here today.

''North-Eastern region stands as the hub of India for trade with Myanmar, China and South East Asia besides being a strategic place for future economic development of the country,'' Mr Jamir said.

He was addressing representatives and employees of Ahmedabad-based Sanjeevani Bio-tech (P) Limited after distributing the awards of excellence and launching its inaugural publication ''Conquest'' here this evening.

The Governor, who himself hails from Nagaland, urged the pharmaceutical companies to provide medicines and treatment to the people of the north-east at their doorsteps at affordable cost so that they need not go to metropolitan cities.

He said the region has abundant flora and fauna, particularly medicinal plants that could be made use of by the pharmaceutical companies.

Speaking on the occasion, Company director (HRD) A K Jain said the pharmaceutical companies could take advantage of the cinchona bark abundantly avilable in the North-Eastern region for extensive use in treatment of malaria.

Earlier, the Company's marketing manager Kaushik Sansara informed media persons that they were opening a plant at Roorkee in Uttaranchal by this year end and would focus more on research on anti-malarial drugs, apart from antibiotics and anti-ulcer drugs.

Sanjeevani Biotech had hitherto been outsourcing different drugs with its turnover touching Rs 17 crore last year as against Rs 40 lakh in 2003.

The Company, he said, was poised to net Rs 70 crore turnover within two years as they continued to outsource the drugs from 13 well established manufacturers in the country. About 10 per cent of its turnover is from the sale of anti-malarial drugs which has a Rs 150 crore market in the country.

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