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Pharma exports grew by 10.55% year-on-year to $14.6 billion during the financial year 2012-13, a top official of industry body Pharmexcil said.
During 2011-12, the exports stood at $13.2 billion, the official of Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) said.
Industry experts are of the opinion that India is likely to miss its ambitious target of achieving exports worth $25 billion by 2014-15 at the current trend.
In rupee terms, the exports registered a growth of 25% to Rs 79.4 lakh crore against Rs 63.5 lakh crore during 2011-12, said P V Appaji, the Director General of Pharmexcil.
"In spite of some recent adverse developments, with the support of Pharmexcil and Government in the form of Brand India Pharma project iPHEX, the sector would continue to grow and meet the health care requirements of the developing world," he told PTI.
The US continues to remain a top destination for pharma exports in FY13 with $3.7 billion, against $3.2 billion in FY12. UK stood at the second place in FY13 with $511 million exports against $491 million in the previous fiscal, according to Pharmexcil data.
Sarabjit Kour Nangra, VP Research Specialist Pharmaceuticals, Angel Broking said the industry can grow at 20% easily.
"Delay in approvals could be the reason for not showing the usual growth. The industry is certainly geared up to encash some of the blockbuster drugs that will be off-patented this year and next year," Nangra said.
According to a senior executive of a city-based generic drug maker and exporter, achieving $25 billion by the end of the current fiscal is impossible given the market conditions.
"Even if the Government clears all bottlenecks in pharma industry on a priority basis it will take another three years to reach the target," the official told PTI.
N Govindarajan, Managing Director, Aurobindo Pharma said, as such the industry is doing well and there will be a huge price erosion when the blockbuster drugs become off-patented.
In some cases, the price erosion will be more than 80%. So, even if drugs worth $40 billion become off-patented in the next two years, the value of the total generics of those drugs will be very less, Govindarajan added.
