Thanks to several groundbreaking healthcare reforms and legislation, India has become the world’s centre for medical tourism, offering affordable treatments using the newest technology. One of medicine’s biggest achievements is the availability of reasonably priced HIV therapy from India (recent reports from the WHO).
India is rightfully referred to as the “Pharmacy of the World” because it is one of the largest suppliers of inexpensive vaccines worldwide. The Indian pharmaceutical market is projected to reach Rs. 10,28,280-11,13,970 crore (US$ 120-130 billion) by 2030, from Rs. 4,71,295 crore (US$ 55 billion) in 2025, according to Bain & Co. Programs like Bachelor of Pharmacy are vital in training future pharmacists who can drive innovation in the Indian pharma industry.
Performance of the Indian Pharma Sector in 2025
As per the data available the cardiac, gastrointestinal, and anti-diabetic divisions accounted for most of the pharmaceutical industry’s FY25 total turnover, which was Rs. 2,25,000 crore (US$ 26.26 billion). With more than 2,000 WHO-GMP-approved facilities and the most USFDA-compliant plants outside of the US, India exports to more than 150 nations. By 2028, the CRDMO sector is predicted to treble to a value of Rs. 1,21,282 crore (US$14 billion), hence strengthening India’s position in international supply chains.
India has launched a Rs. 60,000 crore (US$ 7 billion) API-push on December 5, 2025, to increase domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing and reduce reliance on imports. Thereby the Product Linked Incentive scheme of India (the PLI plan) expenditure of Rs. 15,000 crore (US$ 2.04 billion) from 2020–21 to 2028–29 to boost investment, manufacturing, and product diversification.
As of June 30, 2025, 16,912 Jan Aushadhi Kendras (JAKs) are operating under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana, with a goal of 25,000 by March 2027. These Kendras provide 2,110 medications and 315 devices/consumables to support high-quality, reasonably priced generic healthcare.
The Road Ahead for the Indian Pharma Sector in 2026
Union Budget 2026–2027 is going to allocate a 28.8% increase above earlier budget projections, thereby the Department of Pharmaceuticals would get Rs. 5,268 crore (US$602 million). For greenfield pharmaceutical projects, up to 100% FDI is permitted; for brownfield projects, up to 74% is permitted automatically, with further clearance from the government. This would boost up the FDI investments.
WOW! look at the numbers. Impressive, no doubt the above numericals and Budget allocations are quite encouraging and would help the Pharmaceutical Industry to sky rocketing levels. Through decades of dominance in generics, the time has come to ask some hard questions: Can India ever match global innovation prowess? Or are we too entrenched in concentrating on generics and cost arbitrage to make that leap?
The Need of the Hour: Innovation
Indian pharmaceuticals have not made a significant shift from generics to ground-breaking innovation, despite having a strong manufacturing base and some of the best scientific brains in the world. Innovation weariness is evident; it reaches a saturation point where scale and efficiency alone are insufficient. While much of the Indian pharmaceutical industry is still based on an antiquated model, the global life sciences environment is quickly moving toward data-driven drug development, precision medicine, and biologics.
This issue is cultural in nature rather than merely a pipeline issue. Bold research bets have been hindered by the industry’s long-standing emphasis on risk aversion and temporary Profitability. We still haven’t created a fully connected environment that genuinely values innovation, even though we have the infrastructure and expertise.
Conclusion
It is important to see the bigger perspectives in “Concept to Creation” by taking a few courageous steps. The Indian government and the pharmaceutical sector need to rectify this scenario by providing the young scientists and keen students with a suitable platform (in the form of grants and opportunities). Top pharmaceutical science colleges in Nashik are providing the right environment for innovation to aspiring pharmacists. It is necessary to drive innovation in the Indian pharma sector to stay ahead of the global competition in the pharma industry.
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