Eco Survey: Pharma focus turns to value, innovation over volumes

New Delhi: India's pharmaceutical industry is shifting from a volume-driven to a value-driven approach, with greater emphasis on complex generics, biosimilars, and innovation, to move up the value chain, according to Economic Survey 2025-26.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry is the world's third-largest by volume, meeting approximately 20 per cent of global generics demand, with exports to 191 countries in FY25, it stated.

In FY25, the sector's annual turnover reached Rs 4.72 lakh crore, with exports growing at a CAGR of 7 per cent over the last decade (FY15 to FY25), it added.


Over 50 per cent of the exports are directed to highly regulated markets such as the US and Europe, it said.

India ranks 11th globally in pharmaceutical exports by value, with a 3 per cent share, and medical devices exports have grown significantly from USD 2.5 billion in FY21 to USD 4.1 billion in FY25, though there exists substantial scope for further expansion, it pointed out.

To move up the value chain, the industry is shifting from a volume-driven to a value-driven approach, with greater emphasis on complex generics, biosimilars, and innovation, the Economic Survey stated.


Likewise, scaling up the medical devices sector necessitates reducing import dependence through the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies such as AI and 3D printing, along with streamlining global certification processes to strengthen international market access, it added.

Beyond generics, India is a global leader in low-cost vaccine supply, providing a majority of the world's diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DPT), Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and measles vaccines.

Moreover, India's medical devices sector is also rapidly becoming globally competitive, with exports to 187 countries in FY25, the Economic Survey stated. The industry now manufactures high-end equipment, including MRI and CT scanners, linear accelerators, cardiac stents, and ventilators, it added.

This expansion into sophisticated imaging and life-support technologies marks a significant shift toward high-tech medical manufacturing, the Survey stated.