Budget 2026: Sitharaman proposes Rs 10,000-crore Biopharma Shakti scheme to boost biopharma manufacturing

Union Budget 2026-27: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, in her Budget speech, proposed ‘BioPharma Shakti’ to position India as a global biopharma manufacturing hub with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore over five years. The initiative will focus on biologics and biosimilars to tackle rising non-communicable diseases.

“BioPharma Shakti means BioPharma Strategy for Health Advancement through Knowledge, Technology and Innovation. India's digital disease burden is observed to be shifting towards non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cancer and autoimmune disorders,” Sitharaman announced.

“Biologic medicines are key to longevity and quality of life at affordable costs. To develop India as a global biopharma manufacturing hub, I proposed the Biopharma Shakti with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crores over the next five years. This will build the ecosystem. For domestic production of biologics and biosimilars, the strategy will include a biopharma-focused network with three new national institutes of pharmaceutical education and research, popularly known as NIPERS, and upgrading seven existing ones," she said.


It will establish a network of 1,000 accredited clinical trial sites across India and strengthen the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation to meet global standards and speed up approvals through dedicated scientific reviews and specialist teams, she noted.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth Union Budget in Parliament on Sunday, marking the first time the Budget was delivered on a Sunday. Ahead of the session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the occasion as a moment of pride in India’s parliamentary tradition. The Budget Session of Parliament began on January 28 and will conclude on April 2, 2026.

On Thursday, Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2025–26 in Parliament. Authored by Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran, the Survey pegged GDP growth for 2025–26 at 7.4%, with a forecast of 7% for Q3 (October–December 2025), and projected growth of 6.8–7.2% for 2026–27.