Mumbai, Feb. 25 -- Nearly two decades after Indian manufacturers exited Penicillin G production-most notably when Torrent Pharma shut its plant in 2007-Aurobindo Pharma is staging what can only be described as a daring industrial comeback. Armed with a production-linked incentive (PLI) from the union government, it is once again manufacturing this key starting material for a wide range of antibiotics.

For a country that once watched its domestic fermentation industry wither under relentless Chinese price competition, this is not just another greenfield investment. It is a calculated, high-stakes attempt to reclaim lost ground in a strategically sensitive molecule.

And this time, Aurobindo intends to be one of the largest Penicillin G ma...