New Delhi, June 23 (IANS). India is the world’s largest supplier of generic medicines and a major producer of vaccines and essential medicines. However, economists believe that India now needs to make a big leap in manufacturing high-value pharmaceutical drugs and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). This will require strong Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes.
Responding to NITI Aayog’s pharmaceutical trade report released on Tuesday, economist Ved Jain told IANS that now is the right time for India to move forward in exporting high-value drugs.
“We should invest in research and innovation in the field of core drugs and their associated facilities. I believe there should be a strong PLI scheme for high value drugs and API products,” he said.
According to the NITI Aayog report, India’s competitive advantage currently lies mainly in the areas of formulations, retail drugs and generic medicines.
India maintains strong competition in the generic drugs sector even in markets with strict regulatory standards such as the US and Europe.
Ved Jain said India needs to further reduce regulatory barriers, increase production capacity as well as increase production of high-value pharmaceutical drugs so that they can be exported.
He said that the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) signed by India with various countries will prove helpful in this direction, provided some regulatory restrictions are removed.
The PLI scheme for the pharmaceutical sector promotes the manufacturing of high value products such as biopharmaceuticals, complex generic drugs, patent and off-patent drugs, rare disease drugs and autoimmune diseases drugs.
A total sales of Rs 3,08,408.60 crore have been recorded under the scheme till September 2025, which includes exports of Rs 1,98,509.49 crore.
A total investment of Rs 40,294 crore has been made under the scheme till September 2025, which is much higher than the target of Rs 17,275 crore.
The PLI scheme, which promotes domestic manufacturing, has also played an important role in reducing India’s dependence on imports of bulk drugs.
The report said the global pharmaceutical industry is now increasingly moving towards higher value areas such as biologics, vaccines, immunologicals and advanced therapeutics.
However, India’s export presence in these sectors is still limited. Experts believe that if India increases investment and production in these sectors, it can further strengthen its position in the global pharma industry.
–IANS
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