July 15 2020

Pharmaceutical is among the top 10 sectors in India in terms of FDI and boasts of a strong manufacturing base – making New India an ideal destination for global players

Source: Invest India

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India is the 3rd largest pharmaceuticals industry in the world by volume

India is a prominent and rapidly growing presence in global pharmaceuticals. It is the largest provider of generic medicines globally, occupying a 20% share in global supply by volume, and also supplies 62% of global demand for vaccines.

India ranks 3rd worldwide for production by volume and 10th by value. India is the only country with largest number of US-FDA compliant Pharma plants (more than 262 including APIs) outside of USA. India has nearly 1400 WHO-GMP approved Pharma Plants, 253 European Directorate of Quality Medicines (EDQM) approved plants with modern state of the art Technology.

India is the source of 60,000 generic brands across 60 therapeutic categories and manufactures more than 500 different Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). The API industry is ranked third largest in the world contributing 57% of APIs to prequalified list of the WHO.

The country is home to more than 3,000 pharma companies with a strong network of over 10,500 manufacturing facilities. The domestic pharmaceuticals market turnover reached $20.03 bn in 2019, up 9.3% from 2018, growing as penetration of health insurance and pharmacies rise.

  • From 2018-19, India’s pharmaceuticals exports were worth $19.3 bn with a growth of 10.72% year on year
  • India holds 12% of all global manufacturing sites catering to US market
  • The cost of manufacturing in India is approximately 33% lower than that of the US

100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is allowed under the automatic route for greenfield pharma.

 

100% FDI is allowed in brownfield pharma; wherein 74% is allowed under the automatic route and thereafter through government approval route

For further details, please refer FDI Policy