Johnson & Johnson sells Telangana plant as demand slumps: Report

Hetero said the brownfield manufacturing facility together with land, plant and machinery had been acquired from J&J Pvt. Ltd. in a slump sale without disclosing financial details.

J&J used the manufacturing plant spread across 55.27 acres for the production of consumer health products, including its baby care range, beauty range, earbuds, electrolyte drinks and its oral and skincare line. The plant, built in 2016, was reportedly put up for sale after the company took an impairment charge of about Rs 310 crore. The facility is set to be Hetero's flagship sterile pharmaceutical and biologics manufacturing unit and will generate 2,000 new jobs, the company said in a statement.

"We are committed to an investment upwards of USD 75 million, (approximately Rs 600 crore) to upgrade and enhance existing facilities at the site and expand manufacturing of our global biologics and sterile pharmaceutical products," said Hetero Managing Director Vamsi Krishna Bandi.

This is the second plant sold by J&J in the country. In FY22, it sold its medical division unit in Himachal Pradesh's Baddi as part of a strategic management decision. Last month, the Maharashtra government’s Food and Drugs Administration agency cancelled J&J's licence to manufacture baby powder after talc samples collected from Nashik and Pune failed quality checks.

J&J's product sales have been hit badly following allegations of asbestos contamination in its top-selling talc-based baby powder. The company said in August that it would stop selling talc-based baby powder globally in 2023, more than two years after it ended US sales of the product, which drew thousands of consumer safety lawsuits.