Mineral-rich Odisha has potential sites for developing a domestic pharma manufacturing sector, said Priyanka Priyadarshiny, head of research and development wing of Panacea Biotec Limited, New Delhi, while sounding optimistic about her home state matching steps with the booming pharmaceutical industry.

“Bharat Biotech is working on a vaccine manufacturing plant in Bhubaneswar and several start-ups are also coming up in the state. This was not the case earlier with the industry concentrated in Gujarat and Mumbai. People from Odisha are doing well in the field of pharma,” said this native of Odisha’s Banki.