INDIAN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE IN 2020 - 2021
India ranks 3rd worldwide for pharmaceutical production by volume and 14th by value. The country has a strong network of 3,000 drug companies and about 10,500 manufacturing units. India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally. Indian pharmaceutical sector supplies over 50% of global demand for various vaccines, 40% of generic demand in the US and 25% of all medicine in the UK.
The country also has a large pool of scientists and engineers with a potential to steer the Pharmaceutical industry ahead. Over 80% of the antiretroviral drugs used globally to combat AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) are supplied by Indian pharmaceutical firms. India has also become a forerunner in covid vaccine production and is exporting them as well.
India’s domestic pharmaceutical market is estimated at US$ 42 billion in 2021 and likely to reach US$ 65 billion by 2024 and further expand to reach to about US$ 120-130 billion by 2030. The Indian biotechnology industry was valued at US$ 64 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach US$ 150 billion by 2025. India’s drugs and pharmaceuticals exports stood at US$ 17.57 billion in FY21 (From December 2020 to April 2021).
Industry Development
The Indian Union Cabinet has given its nod for the amendment of existing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy in the pharmaceutical sector in order to allow FDI up to 100% under the automatic route for manufacturing of medical devices subject to certain conditions.
The drugs and pharmaceuticals sector attracted cumulative FDI inflow worth US$ 17.75 billion between April 2000 and December 2020 according to the data released by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
Under Union Budget 2021-22, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been allocated Rs. 73,932 crore
(US$ 10.35 billion) and the Department of Health Research has been allocated Rs. 2,663 crore (US$ 365.68 billion). The
government allocated Rs. 37,130 crore (US$ 5.10 billion) to the 'National Health Mission’.
Medicine spending in India is projected to grow 9 12% over the next five years, leading India to become one of the top 10 countries in this terms. Rising population, better health awareness and arrival new lifestyle diseases sure would support the pharma industry in India. The recent thrust on covid vaccine production and need for other related life saving drugs would sure boost this sector further.
