Pharma trade: Resilience, reinvention & road to 2047

FOR over two decades, India's pharmaceutical industry has anchored both global healthcare and national industrial growth.

- Khushbu Jain

With unmatched capacity for affordable, high-quality drug production, India today contributes an estimated 8 per cent to 10 per cent of global formulations supply and over 20 per cent of APIs by volume across 200+ countries. Notably, it supplies nearly 40 per cent of the generic medicines consumed in the United States and 25 per cent of those used in the United Kingdom, according to IBEF.

India's scale advantage is equally visible in hard-coded trade performance. Pharmaceutical exports reached US$ 29 billion in FY 2024-25, up from US$ 16 billion in FY 2016-17, reflecting a steady compounded growth rate of nearly eight per cent. Even amid global economic headwinds, India's exports have held firm. Between April and August 2025, India exported US$ 12.2 billion worth of pharmaceuticals, up 5.4 per cent year-on-year compared to US$ 11.6 billion in the same period of FY 2024-25.

This global reach has earned it the title of “pharmacy of the world”, a recognition built on technical rigor, compliance discipline, and manufacturing scale.

Yet this success story is not without its unique characteristics. The United States remains India’s single-largest export destination, accounting for roughly US$ 10.2 billion, or more than 30 per cent of total exports, followed by the United Kingdom (US$ 868 million) and Brazil (US$ 746 million) trailing far behind. This concentration reveals both strength and vulnerability: while the U.S. market provides scale and credibility, overdependence on one geography heightens exposure to policy risk.

Redrawing the trade map: The tariff wake-up call

While India's export footprint continues to expand, the global rules of pharmaceutical trade are shifting. Nowhere is this more evident than in the United States, where policy rhetoric has again turned toward self-reliance in healthcare manufacturing.