India’s Pharma Supply Chain Still 65% Dependent on Chinese Imports: NITI Aayog
Releasing the report, Niti Aayog vice chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri said India is considered the pharmacy of the world.
New Delhi: The government’s think-tank Niti Aayog on Tuesday said that India's pharmaceutical supply chain remains heavily dependent, about 65 per cent, on Chinese imports for critical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and key starting materials. “Weak innovation and a commercialisation ecosystem have created uncertainty for innovators and long-term investments,” the Aayog report said while pitching for promoting diversification into high-value pharmaceutical segments.
The Aayog, in its eighth edition of ‘Trade Watch Quarterly’’, further said that rising environmental compliance requirements have significantly increased manufacturing and R&D costs in India. “Supply Chain and Sustainability Challenges: India's pharmaceutical supply chain remains heavily dependent on Chinese imports (65 per cent) for critical active pharmaceutical ingredient (APIs), Key Starting Materials (KSMs), and intermediates, particularly fermentation-based products,” it said.
The report also called for enhancing regulatory transparency and stronger industry academia technology transfer in life-sciences clusters to accelerate patent commercialisation, research collaboration, and start-up incubation. Releasing the report, Niti Aayog vice chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri said India is considered the pharmacy of the world.
“NITI Aayog has found out that while we are doing all right in terms of volume in pharmaceutical sector, we need to move up the value chain. India has some credibility in the international market, and he does not see any reason why Indian pharmaceutical companies, if they come up with good quality, modestly priced branded products, should not command a high international market,” Lahiri said.
India is a major supplier of affordable generic drugs (in volume), meeting approximately 50 percent of Africa's, 40 percent of the USA's, and 25 per cent of the UK's generic medicine requirements. The global drugs and pharmaceuticals market demand stood at $1.3 trillion in 2025, comprising $1.02 trillion of pharmaceuticals and $261 billion of API.