Indian Pharmaceuticals Industry Analysis

Indian pharmaceutical sector supplies over 50% of the global demand for various vaccines, 40% of the generic demand for US and 25% of all medicines for UK. India contributes the second-largest share of pharmaceutical and biotech workforce in the world. According to the Indian Economic Survey 2021, the domestic market is expected to grow 3x in the next decade. 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 ~US$ 120-130 billion by 2030.

Globally, India ranks 3rd in terms of pharmaceutical production by volume and 14th by value. The domestic pharmaceutical industry includes a network of 3,000 drug companies and ~10,500 manufacturing units.

India is the 12^th largest exporter of medical goods in the world. The country’s pharmaceutical sector contributes 6.6% to the total merchandise exports. As of May 2021, India supplied a total of 586.4 lakh COVID-19 vaccines, comprising grants (81.3 lakh), commercial exports (339.7 lakh) and exports under the COVAX platform (165.5 lakh), to 71 countries.

Indian drugs are exported to more than 200 countries in the world, with US being the key market. Generic drugs account for 20% of the global export in terms of volume, making the country the largest provider of generic medicines globally. It is expected to expand even further in the coming years. The Indian pharmaceutical exports, including bulk drugs, intermediates, drug formulations, biologicals, Ayush & herbal products and surgical, reached US$ 24.44 billion in FY21. India’s drugs and pharmaceuticals exports stood at US$ 3.76 billion between April 2021 and May 2021.

India’s medical devices market stood at US$ 10.36 billion in FY20. The market is expected to increase at a CAGR of 37% from 2020 to 2025 to reach US$ 50 billion.

‘Pharma Vision 2020’ by the Government’s Department of Pharmaceuticals aims to make India a major hub for end-to-end drug discovery. The Indian drugs and pharmaceuticals sector received cumulative FDIs worth US$ 17.99 billion between April 2000 and March 2021.

To achieve self-reliance and minimise import dependency in the country's essential bulk drugs, the Department of Pharmaceuticals initiated a PLI scheme to promote domestic manufacturing by setting up greenfield plants with minimum domestic value addition in four separate ‘Target Segments’ with a cumulative outlay of Rs. 6,940 crore (US$ 951.27 million) from FY21 to FY30. In June 2021, Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman announced an additional outlay of Rs. 197,000 crore (US $26,578.3 million) that will be utilised over five years for the pharmaceutical PLI scheme in 13 key sectors such as active pharmaceutical ingredients, drug intermediaries and key starting materials.

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’. PM Aatmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana was allocated Rs. 64,180 crore (US$ 8.80 billion) over six years. The Ministry of AYUSH was allocated Rs. 2,970 crore (US$ 407.84 million), up from Rs. 2,122 crore (US$ 291.39 million).

India plans to set up a nearly Rs. 1 lakh crore (US$ 1.3 billion) fund to provide boost to companies to manufacture pharmaceutical ingredients domestically by 2023.

In August 2021, Union Health Minister, Mr. Mansukh Mandaviya announced that an additional number of pharmaceutical companies in India are expected to commence manufacturing of anti-coronavirus vaccines by October-November 2021. This move is expected to further boost the vaccination drive across the country.

In July 2021, Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University (DPSRU) collaborated with All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) to focus on assessment of application of ayurvedic and medicinal plant-based drugs in modern medicines.

India is the largest producer of vaccines worldwide, accounting for ~60% of the total vaccines, as of 2021.