Pharmaceutical Industry

Indian pharmaceutical industry

The Indian pharmaceutical industry is the world’s 3rd largest by volume and 14th largest in terms of value. Total Annual Turnover of Pharmaceuticals was Rs. 2,89,998 crore for the year 2019-2020. Total pharmaceutical exports and import were to the tune of Rs. 1,46,260 crore and Rs. 42,943 crore respectively in the year 2019-20.

Major Segments of Pharmaceutical Industry are Generic drugs, OTC Medicines and API/Bulk Drugs, Vaccines, Contract Research & Manufacturing, Biosimilars & Biologics.

India has the second-highest number of US FDA approved plants outside the US.

India is a global leader in the supply of DPT, BCG, and Measles vaccines. India accounts for 60 percent of global vaccine production, contributing 40 to 70 percent of the WHO demand for Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (DPT) and Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccines, and 90 percent of the WHO demand for the measles vaccine.

India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally. Access to affordable HIV treatment from India is one of the greatest success stories in medicine. India is one of the biggest suppliers of low-cost vaccines in the world. Because of the low price and high quality, Indian medicines are preferred worldwide, thereby rightly making the country the “Pharmacy of the World”. Pharma sector currently contributes to around 1.72% of the country’s GDP.

India’s pharmaceutical sector forms a major component of the country’s foreign trade, with attractive avenues and opportunities for investors. India supplies affordable and low-cost generic drugs to millions of people across the globe and operates a significant number of United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and World Health Organization (WHO) Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)-compliant plants. India has occupied a premier position among pharmaceutical manufacturing countries of the
world.

India is 3rd largest market for APIs globally, 8% share in Global API Industry, 500+ different APIs are manufactured in India and it contributes 57% of APIs to prequalified list of the WHO.

Medical Devices
The Medical Device industry is highly capital intensive with a long gestation period and requires development/induction of new technologies. The major manufacturing of medical devices in the country is currently happening with respect to disposables such as catheter, perfusion sets, extension lines, cannula, feeding tubes, needles, syringes and implants such as cardiac stents, drug eluting stents, intra-ocular lenses and orthopaedic implants. Medical devices ranges from simple, low-risk devices such as medical thermometers, disposable gloves etc. to complex, high-risk devices like pacemakers, Implants, Ventilator, CT Scan and MRI etc.