The Gujarat government on October 3 announced setting up of an international-level snakebite research centre at tribal-dominated Dharampur town in Valsad district.

Apart from conducting research, the facility will also serve as a venom collection centre to cater to pharmaceutical companies, Gujarat Forest Minister Ganpat Vasava said in Gandhinagar after attending a one-day workshop on snakebite mitigation. "Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has given an approval to set up an international-level snakebite research centre at Dharampur in Valsad. This centre will also collect snake venom and supply it to the pharma companies to make medicines from it. This will be the second such facility after Chennai in the country," he told reporters.

The minister added that the government officials would visit that centre in Chennai to learn more about the project. In his address during the workshop, Vasava said of around 300 species of snakes in India, 52 are found in Gujarat. He added that around 12,000 people die of snakebites in India annually.