India pharma exports widen beyond US as American market slips 10%

India pharma exports diversify beyond US as shipments to largest market decline nearly 10%: Pharmexcil Chairman

New Delhi, September 18

Speaking on India's pharmaceutical exports and supply-chain resilience, Joshi said the decline in the US market resulted in an erosion of nearly USD 1 billion in exports.

"We have seen that our US market is declining. Last year, there was almost 10 per cent degrowth. So, almost USD 1 billion was eroded. The US is our largest trading partner in pharmaceuticals," Joshi said.

He said exports to the US declined from around USD 10.5 billion to about USD 9.5 billion. Despite the decline in the country's biggest pharmaceutical export market, India was able to record overall growth, he added.

Joshi said the impact of weaker US shipments was mitigated to a large extent by growth in Brazil and other Latin American markets, along with some African countries, while Europe remained relatively stable.

"We identified that this loss was mitigated to a large extent by Brazil, Latin American markets, some African nations, and Europe has consistently remained stable for us," he said.

Joshi said Pharmexcil is focusing on widening India's export markets rather than remaining heavily dependent on a single country.

"We are seeing degrowth patterns in some places and growth patterns in others. We feel that our spread has become much better. Rather than depending on one country which is contributing 35 per cent, now we are seeing a market spread," he said.

"Our focus is also that you should not put all eggs in one basket. We are working accordingly and increasing our export promotion in regions where we see growth," he added.

On the current financial year, Joshi said India's pharmaceutical exports grew 6.8 per cent during the April-June quarter to USD 8.1 billion from around USD 7.5 billion in the corresponding period last year.

He said the performance came despite global instability and challenges, including issues related to petrochemical feedstock.

"These figures show that no matter how many challenges arise, India's supply chain is resilient enough for us to achieve this," Joshi said.

Joshi also spoke about efforts to build the Bharat Health Global Expo as a common global platform for India's healthcare sector.

He said pharmaceuticals, medical devices and nutraceuticals, which were earlier showcased through separate events, are being brought under a single umbrella to present India's entire healthcare ecosystem to global stakeholders.

"We are bringing all of them together under one umbrella so that we can show the country and the world that the entire ecosystem is available in India," he said.

Joshi added that planning has already begun for the second edition of the Bharat Health Global Expo in 2027.

— ANI