India is the world’s largest provider of generic medicines, with 20 per cent of all global generics (in terms of market value) in last year came from India. In order to keep up with such staggering growth, Mumbai Cargo Service Center and Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) have come up with a new facility called Export Cold Zone (Agro & Pharma Excellence Center).
The facility was inaugurated by V Rama Mathew, Chief Commissioner, Customs & Central Excise – Mumbai Zone; Sungita Sharma, Former Principal Chief Commissioner, Customs – Mumbai Zone III and Bhavna Singh, Deputy Director-General, Ministry of Civil Aviation in Mumbai on Thursday in presence of Tushar Jani, Group Chairman, Cargo Service Center and Manoj Singh, Sr Vice President – Cargo, MIAL; Charudatta Deshmukh, Director – Urban Planning, MIAL felicitated the Chief Guests in the inauguration ceremony.
Mr Jani on the occasion said, “We have created a world-class facility and now the time has come when the world has to compete with India.”
“India is moving towards capturing a significant share of global generic drug market from the current 20 per cent market share in terms of value. Pharma Excellence Center will play a vital role in this stride, it is a temple where professionals of pharma companies like Sun Pharma, Lupin, Glenmark can brainstorm on innovative ideas and contribute in the achieving excellence in the pharma handling processes.”
~Tushar Jani, Group Chairman, Cargo Service Center
“It’s a moment of strength, pride and togetherness as Pharma Excellence Center is not just an overnight thought it took 3-4 years in completion of this facility and obtaining Pharma CEIV certification. This is a rare combination where a cargo service provider and an airport operator are working together for carrying out efficient pharma handling activities.”
~Manoj Singh, Sr Vice President – Cargo, MIAL
Touted as the world’s largest airport-based temperature-controlled facility, the ”Export Cold Zone” can hold over 700 tonnes of pharma and agro cargo at one time and its combined annual capacity is 5.25 lakh tonnes.
Mumbai airport is the largest gateway for the movement of pharma and agro products in the country and the fully automated infrastructure caters to the rapidly growing demand for pharma and Agri goods.
It connects to over 500 cargo destinations across 175 countries through 60 airlines.
The export cold zone is equipped with 12 truck docks with dock- levellers, spacious acceptance and examination area, automated workstations, X-Ray machines, Unit Load Device (ULD) storage, ballmat system for ULD transfer and cold rooms.
Spread over an operational area of 6,000 square metres, the facility is equipped with 10 ULD build-up workstations and as many as 172 ULD storage positions.
The pharma terminal itself can hold 140 ULD positions, while the agro terminal can hold 32 ULD positions.
