Six new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs) will come up in the country at an estimated cost of Rs 633.15 crore.

The government last month accorded its approval for the establishment of the NIPERs at Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Hajipur (Bihar), Guwahati and Rae Bareli.

The coming up of these institutes will facilitate establishment of full fledged NIPER campuses at these places for imparting higher PG level education as well as undertaking R&D projects.

This will help in meeting the requirement of highly skilled manpower of the pharmaceutical industry, and focus on R&D, an official statement said.

The government set up NIPER, an institute of national importance, at Mohali under the NIPER Act, 1998. However, in view of the increased requirement of highly skilled manpower for the pharmaceutical industry, the government, in principle, decided to set up six new NIPERs.

Post graduate courses in pharmaceutical sciences commenced at Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Hajipur from the academic session of 2007-08 with the help of mentor institutes. PG courses at Guwahati and Rae Bareli also began with the help of mentor institutes from 2008.