India needs quantum jump into manufacturing high-value pharma products: Economists
New Delhi, June 23
India, which is one of the world's largest suppliers of generic medicines and a major provider of vaccines and essential drugs, needs to make a quantum jump into manufacturing high-value pharmaceuticals and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, and there has to be strong Production Linked Incentive schemes to achieve this, economists said on Tuesday.
Commenting on the NITI Aayog report on pharmaceutical trade that came out on Tuesday, economist Ved Jain told IANS that the time is ripe to make a jump into exporting high-value pharmaceutical products.
"We should invest in research innovation on basic drugs and facilities and for that, and I believe there has to be a strong PLI scheme for valued products, like high basic drugs and API products," he mentioned.
According to the NITI Aayog report, India's comparative advantage remains concentrated in formulations, particularly retail medicaments and generic drugs, where it remains highly competitive even in regulated markets such as the United States and Europe.
Jain said that we need to further remove regulatory barriers, ramp up production and, at the same time, increase the production of high-value pharmaceutical products which can be exported.
Various free trade agreements (FTAs) India has signed would definitely help in this direction once certain regulatory restrictions are addressed, he noted.
The PLI Scheme for pharmaceuticals supports the manufacturing of high-value products like biopharmaceuticals, complex generics, patented/off-patent drugs, orphan, and autoimmune drugs. It generated a total sale of Rs 3,08,408.60 crore, including Rs 1,98,509.49 crore in exports, since inception till September 2025.
Further, investment worth Rs 40,294 crore has also been made under the scheme till September 2025. The amount significantly exceeded the targeted investment of Rs 17,275 crore. The PLI scheme for the promotion of domestic manufacturing also helped reduce the import dependence for bulk drugs.
Meanwhile, the global pharmaceutical landscape has increasingly shifted towards high-value segments such as biologics, vaccines, immunologicals, and advanced therapeutics, where India's export presence remains limited.
— IANS
Reader Comments
As someone working in pharma supply chain, I see this daily. Indian generics are world-class but we're missing out on the premium segment. The PLI scheme's ₹1.98 lakh crore exports is fantastic, but biologics and advanced therapeutics are growing at 15-18% annually globally. We need to be there, not just watch from the sidelines. The FTAs will help, but R&D investment is key. Good read.
All well and good, but let's not forget our fundamental problem - we still depend heavily on China for basic drug intermediates and key starting materials. Before jumping into high-value products, we need to secure our supply chain for APIs. Also, the regulatory barriers Jain mentions - are we really addressing them? Many small pharma units still struggle with compliance. PLI is great, but implementation is everything.
I'm a biotech researcher and this resonates deeply. We have brilliant scientists but the ecosystem for innovation needs strengthening. The ₹40,294 crore investment is welcome, but we need more PPP models, better industry-academia collaboration, and streamlined patent laws. Our generic success shows we can compete globally - now let's show the world what we can do in biologics and advanced therapeutics! 🧬🔬
Nice article but I'm cautiously optimistic. We've heard similar promises before. Remember the 'pharma hub' talk a decade back? Yes, PLI has delivered on investment targets, but creating an innovation ecosystem takes more than incentives. We need consistent policies, not flip-flops. And please, improve our power supply and logistics for pharma clusters in Hyderabad and Vizag - basics first! Still, good direction overall.
A We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.