'API import from China may fall 25% in next 5 yrs'

New Delhi: It seems the government's initiative to reduce dependency on China for active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) has started yielding results as pharma majors have moved towards API manufacturing in the country under the aegis of Product Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, which was approved by the Union Cabinet in February 2021.

India currently imports about 70 per cent of API from China.

However, given the current market sentiment, India's dependency on China for API import may get reduced by 20-25 per cent in the next five years as pharma majors have taken it a challenge and working on a mission mode to bring down API import, opined Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, who is Secretary of Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) that functions under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

While talking to Millennium Post, Raghuvanshi said, "It's a fact that production of API is not an overnight game. It would increase gradually. The best part is that the government has cleared its intent by starting PLI schemes in this regard, which has been taken by the industry in a positive way."

"Definitely, money has its role in the growth of any project, but the important part of PLI scheme is that the government has given a positive signal to the industry as all three PLI schemes in this sector have mobilized pharma industry a lot towards API manufacturing," he said, adding that the government has put fuel in the fire and now it's the responsibility of the companies to make it happen.

However, Raghuvanshi also stressed that pharma business should not be seen from the profitability mindset. "There is a need to be more sensitive towards pricing of life-saving drugs as apart from profitability, there are several other social factors connected with this sector."

It's worth mentioning that the Indian pharma sector is the third largest in the world by volume and 14th largest in terms of value. India contributes 3.5 percent of total drugs and medicines exported globally. Despite all these, India is significantly dependent on import of basic raw materials such as bulk drugs that are used to produce the finished dosage formulations.

The objective of the PLI scheme is to attain self-reliance and reduce import dependence in critical key starting materials (KSMs), drug intermediates and API.