G G Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd has approached the Environment and Forests Ministry for environmental clearance to expansion plans of its unit at Bhagwanpur in Punjab\'s Mohali district.

In a letter to the ministry, the company said it wants to add five new products --
Cloxacillin Sodium 132 TPA, Dicloxacillin Sodium 33 TPA, Flucloxacillin Sodium
29.7 TPA, Ampicilllin Trihydrate 112.2 TPA, Amoxicillin Trihydrate 112.2 TPA.

The company said there will be no land acquisition for the purpose and it will use
land within the existing plot area of 3.71 acres or 12406 sq m. The company has
identified 4236 sq m for greenbelt development.

The total cost for expansion is Rs 8.7 crore whereas the cost of the existing
project is Rs 10 crore. The capital cost for key pollution control measures is Rs
171 lakh. The recurring cost shall be Rs 8.1 lakh per annum.

According to G G Chemicals, the expansion of the project which is diversification
into pharma from synthetic chemicals will be very helpful to the region
particularly when a large number of industries have shifted from Punjab to
Himachal Pradesh.

The total power requirement for the existing unit is 369.88 KW and for proposed
expansion is 400 KW.

The company said there are no historical places, archaeological sites, ancient
monuments, wildlife sanctuaries or national parks within a 10 km radius from the
project site. It said it has been concentrating on maintaining the greenbelt area,
water pollution control, environmental monitoring and occupational health among
other things.

The project proponent agrees to put 5 per cent of the total project cost of Rs 8.7
crore phased in five years for various social measures like upgrading of schools,
provision of solar lights in public areas and water quality monitoring kits and
training to school teachers on their use, scholarships for meritorious students to
undergo higher studies and provision of RO systems to government and private
schools in 10 kn impact area.

The company said personal protective equipment like hand gloves, gumboot, goggles, helmet, clothing etc are provided to the employees according to requirement. All hazard identification measures are adopted to ensure safety and all medical facilities provided to its employees.

It said occupational health surveillance programmes are undertaken as a regular
exercise for all employees.