India's Faridabad builds manufacturing mass

With its super low costs, India has become a major global drug manufacturing destination, drawing outside companies as well as developing a significant domestic industry. And Faridabad has become one of the hubs for that manufacturing, particularly for devicemakers.

India is probably best known for its generic drug business. Ranbaxy Laboratories, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Claris Lifesciences are homegrown. It, of course, has also drawn investments from many of the biggest Western drugmakers as well.

But within the burgeoning industry, The Economic Times says Faridabad has carved out a nice niche for devicemakers. The industry is producing about Rs 450 crore ($81.4 million) in sales a year and one manufacturer, Hindustan Syringes and Medical Devices, claims 15% year-over-year growth since it started more than 50 years ago.

"Proximity to Delhi is the main advantage," Rajiv Nath, a managing director of the company, tells The Economic Times. "Besides, the pool of industrial workforce and technical staff residing in the city are some other reasons."

The city is about 43 miles from Delhi. The manufacturing center has an estimated 25 manufacturers of various sizes now and many of those are investing.

"We are planning to invest over Rs 300 crore ($54.2 million) in the next three years," Nath tells the newspaper.