New Delhi: India exported pharmaceutical products and medicines worth $24 billion (Rs 1.84 lakh crore) despite supply disruptions caused by the two Covid waves in the country, which is an all-time record for the commodity, showed the official data. In a statement, the ministry of commerce and industry said Indian pharma exports registered healthy growth in FY 2021-22 (April-March 2022 period).
“The pharma exports in 2021-22 sustained a positive growth despite the global trade disruptions and drop in demand for COVID related medicines. The trade balance continues to be in India’s favour, with a surplus of over $15 billion,” it said. According to officials, Indian pharma companies were able to increase their market share due to their price competitiveness and they have made a global mark as 60 per cent of the world’s vaccines and 20% of generic medicines are now supplied by India.
As per the data, India ranks third worldwide for production by volume and 14th by value in terms of pharmaceutical products. Behind India’s pharma success story lies the country’s world-class manufacturing excellence, robust infrastructure, cost-competitiveness, trained human capital and innovation.
As per industry estimates, the current market size of the Indian pharmaceutical industry is around $50 billion. The share of pharmaceuticals and drugs in the country’s exports is around 6%. Within the pharma exports, formulations and biologicals continue to account for a major share of over 73% in the total exports, followed by bulk drugs and drug intermediates with exports of $4.4 billion.
Who is buying Indian pharma products?
India’s pharma companies export their products to high quality conscious and regulated markets as the US and UK are the two top destinations for India’s pharma exports respectively. They are followed by South Africa, Russia and Nigeria. According to officials, around 55 % of Indian pharma exports cater to highly regulated markets and Indian pharma companies have a substantial share in the prescription market in the US and EU.
More importantly, India is home to the largest number of pharmaceutical plants outside the USA which are approved by the US drug regulator – the Food and Drug Authority (FDA). In FY 2020-21, Indian drugs and pharmaceutical companies registered a sharp growth of over 18% as they exported drugs and pharmaceuticals worth $24.4 billion despite supply disruptions caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus.
Indian drugs, vaccines in fight against Covid
Officials said Indian pharma industry played a pivotal role in fighting against the COVID pandemic and demonstrating to the world that India continues to be a reliable and dependent partner when it comes to dealing with a global health crisis. For instance, Indian vaccine industry developed Covid vaccine with indigenous technology in collaboration with India’s research institutions like ICMR and NIV within the shortest time on par with highly developed countries like America and EU. As per its vaccine diplomacy, India provided 115 million doses of vaccines to more than 97 countries. India’s recently concluded economic cooperation agreements with the UAE and Australia are expected to better access to Indian pharma products to these markets.
