India's Pharma Exports Grow by 103% Since 2013-14

Indian pharma exports witnessed a growth of 103 per cent since 2013-14. A significant rise has been reported from Rs 90,415 crores in 2013-14 to Rs 1,83,422 crores in 2021-22, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry informed.

Highlighting the achievement in a tweet, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal said that under the active leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has been serving as the 'pharmacy of the world'.

Building on the outstanding performance in the previous FY 2020-21, Indian pharma exports once again registered a healthy performance in 2021-22.

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 USD 15175.81 Million.

As per the release, Indian pharma companies enabled by their price competitiveness and good quality have made a global mark with 60 per cent of the world's vaccines and 20 per cent of generic medicines coming from India.

India ranks 3rd worldwide for production by volume and 14th by value. Behind India's pharma success story is our world-class manufacturing excellence, robust infrastructure, cost-competitiveness, trained human capital, and innovation. The current market size of the Indian pharmaceutical industry is around USD 50 billion.

The share of pharmaceuticals and drugs in our global exports is 5.92 per cent. Formulations and biologicals continue to account for a major share of 73.31 per cent in our total exports, followed by bulk drugs and drug intermediates with exports of USD 4437.64 million. India's top 5 pharma export destinations are the USA, UK, South Africa, Russia and Nigeria.

It is also noteworthy that around 55 per cent of our pharma exports cater to highly regulated markets. Indian pharma companies have a substantial share in the prescription market in the US and EU. The largest number of FDA approved plants outside the US is in India.

Even in the year, 2020-21, Indian drugs and pharmaceuticals had registered a sharp growth amid the COVID despair, achieving export of USD 24.4 Bn with a YoY growth of 18 per cent, the release read.

The extraordinary export growth in 2020-21 was achieved by braving the frequent lockdowns, global supply chain disruptions, and the depressed manufacturing sector. Indian pharma industry played a pivotal role in fighting against the COVID pandemic and demonstrating to the world that we continue to be a reliable and dependent partner when it comes to dealing with a global health crisis.

Indian vaccine industry developed the 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 the EU. India provided 115million doses of vaccines to more than 97 countries.

As part of the trade agreements, India also signed a cooperation agreement with UAE and Australia which will give enhanced access to Indian pharma products in these markets, the release added.