India’s pharma and meditech industry set to double by 2030: Pharma Secretary
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Chawla highlighted that this growth is driven by India’s expanding CRDMO (Contract Research Development Manufacturing Organisation) ecosystem, which is developing rapidly and is set to contribute significantly to the country’s economic and employment landscape.
He noted, “The CRDMO industry in our country is now growing at 12-14%,” providing opportunities for graduates, engineers, and technicians as the industry scales up its research and manufacturing capabilities.
India has also made notable strides in achieving a trade balance in bulk drug imports and exports. “For the first time in the closing year, we reached a trade balance between imports and exports as far as bulk drugs are concerned,” Chawla emphasised.
Last year, about half of India’s pharmaceutical and biological output was exported, marking a pivotal shift towards an export-oriented pharmaceutical industry as India edges closer to exporting more than 50% of its production.
The government’s healthcare expansion was underscored by the launch of five key pharmaceutical projects by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, involving a total greenfield investment of ₹5,000 crore. Chawla stated that this is part of the broader PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme, which has seen cumulative investments of about ₹35,000 crore across 55 projects, with another 30 in the pipeline. This investment push is designed to enhance India’s self-reliance, or “atma nirbharta,” in pharmaceuticals, achieve import substitution, and generate export revenues.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi launched healthcare projects worth nearly ₹13,000 crore, aimed at enhancing India’s healthcare infrastructure. Among the initiatives was the extension of the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme to all senior citizens over 70 years of age.
PM Modi also inaugurated Phase 2 of the All India Institute of Ayurveda and introduced drone services in 11 tertiary healthcare institutions.
Below are the excerpts of the interview.
Q: What’s the cumulative investment on account of these five projects that were launched today by the Prime Minister?
Chawla: The five projects launched today specifically involve a greenfield investment of ₹5,000 crores, but otherwise in the PLI schemes put together, about ₹35,000 crores have already been invested. And this accounts for 50-55 projects that have been launched so far; another 30 are in the pipeline. And more important than investment is what they have achieved. They have achieved atma nirbharta for India, and they have achieved import substitution and saved us precious foreign exchange. And going forward, these industries are so competitive that they are now penetrating the export markets.
Q: The pharma sector was the first sector to see the PLI schemes being rolled out and operationalised. If you can give us a status check of the quantum of investments made so far, as well as how many projects stand operational today?
Chawla: Today, the Prime Minister launched the PMJAY, which is a new initiative for elderly citizens. And it will provide them with free health care and free treatment. This is a very important and long-awaited initiative.
In addition, to mark Health Day and the Dhanvantri Divas, the Prime Minister launched several health projects, including Jan Aushadhi Kendras, and he also launched major PLI projects.
PLI is a very important component of the Make in India initiative. And today, about five large PLI projects were selected for launch. And these projects are so massive that they will change the pharma and Meditech landscape in the country. They are all greenfield plants, they have come bottom up. In these plants, coronary stents, heart valves, critical care equipment, and body implants, will all be manufactured within the country. They will meet our domestic demand, and they will also meet the export demand of other countries. This is a massive watershed moment.
In addition to this, the Prime Minister also launched the penicillin and the clavulanic acid-producing plants. These are basic molecules that are the basis of all popular antibiotics on the market, including ampicillin, amoxicillin, amoxclav, and augmentin. And when any industry matures to start making these basic molecules and fermentation products, it’s a sign of great maturity, and that is what the Prime Minister launched today.
Q: What is the quantum of exports that we’re now doing from India, what has been the incremental jump and what is the expectation over the next few years as more and more of these plants come on stream, and more importantly, in terms of import substitution, how much have we been able to curtail in terms of API imports?
Chawla: In the closing year, as per the data and the available evidence, half of India’s pharma and biological output was exported. In effect, the moment we cross the 50% percent barrier, the industry officially becomes an export-oriented industry.
In addition to that, we broke a very important stereotype and that is that India is no longer just an importer of bulk drugs. Last year India exported as many bulk drugs as it imported. So we achieved for the first time in the closing year trade balance between imports and exports as far as bulk drugs are concerned.
Going forward there are four structural changes that are coming about in the industry. The industry is maturing fast, and the pharma industry is now moving upstream. There is clear evidence of backward induction and backward integration with bulk drugs, drug intermediates, and starting materials, and so many PLI plants are going live and producing APIs in the country. Parallelly, a biological and biosimilar ecosystem is now fast growing in the country. And if growth numbers are any evidence, then the biosimilars and the biological segment is now outpacing the growth in generics. And if I can give you some numbers, then already 100 biosimilars and complex generic molecules have been approved in our country. And 40-plus of them are in clinical development. This is among the highest anywhere in the world.
In addition to this, a very rich and comprehensive CRDMO ecosystem is now developing in the country. CRDMO stands for Contract Research Development Manufacturing Organisation. This is a basic R&D industry, which employs a large number of our graduates, a large number of our engineers and technicians. And this industry is growing at a breakneck. As far as the latest data that we have analysed the CRDMO industry in our country is now growing at 12-14%. If you put all this together, pharma and meditech which is presently around $70 billion is poised to almost double by 2030 and, going forward, the future is even brighter.
