'India pharma resilient despite disruptions; no blanket price hike planned'

India's pharma sector remains resilient despite West Asia disruptions, as the government advances biopharma, R&D and bulk drug manufacturing initiatives

Even as geopolitical tensions test pharmaceutical supply chains, the government is pressing ahead with plans to strengthen India’s drugs and medical devices industry. Pharma Secretary Manoj Joshi talks to Sanket Koul in New Delhi about pricing concerns, new support schemes, biopharma manufacturing, innovation funding, and regulatory priorities. Edited excerpts:

 

To what extent has the extended disruption from the conflict in West Asia affected the procurement of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and important input feedstock such as ammonia, methanol and propylene?

 

India’s pharma sector has remained largely resilient. Production and inventories have not been much affected. The industry faced supply constraints, particularly solvents and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in the initial period, but the government was able to address those issues and restore supply.

 

The supply of key solvents essential for the industry, such as methanol, ammonia, and propylene, which are required for manufacturing isopropyl alcohol (IPA), have also stabilised. There has been an increase in input costs due to an increase in prices of crude oil and petrochemicals, and downstream petrochemical products, which are essential for the pharmaceutical industry. This has pushed up the cost of manufacturing, packaging and transport.

 

For some drugs, the raw material costs have increased by 20-30 per cent, which has been absorbed by the industry so far.

 

Are the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) weighing an emergency, a one-time increase in prices of essential medicines due to disruption in the supply of petrochemical-based inputs?

 

No such blanket move is under examination as of now. However, the government is aware of a few individual cases that have seen an abnormal spike over the last couple of years, but unrelated to the West Asia crisis.

 

For example, platinum, used in cancer medications, has seen an almost 250 per cent rise in price. Such cases are being considered.

 

Is the department considering proposals for a production-linked initiative 2.0 in pharma?

 

We are working on a new comprehensive support scheme for discovery and development in bulk drugs. The scheme will have a longer time frame for the industry to set up units. Government support for product research and development will be more flexible. The focus will be on involving government institutions for improved academia-industry partnership.

 

What is the status of the Mission Biopharma Shakti, announced in this year’s Budget? Has the first phase of disbursement been made?

 

An allocation of ₹10,000 crore has been made for the scheme. The money will be utilised over the next five years. India’s disease burden is shifting towards non-communicable illnesses like diabetes, cancer and autoimmune disorders. India is a leader in generics, and, with this mission, it can become a global manufacturing hub in biopharma.

 

We have had a wide range of consultations with all stakeholders, including government bodies, industry leaders, startups, and Contract Research, Development and Manufacturing Organisations. After obtaining all appropriate approvals, including the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) and Cabinet, the scheme will be rolled out. 

 

 The scheme also includes building three National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs), along with upgrading the seven existing ones. 

 

The Biopharma Shakti aims to strengthen the value chain in the domestic production of biologics and biosimilars.

 

What is the status of disbursements under component B of the Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma MedTech Sector scheme to support research & development (R&D), and how many project applications has the department received?

 

Under component B of the scheme, micro, small and medium enterprises, and startups can get ₹5 crore as assistance for projects of up to ₹9 crore. For projects of up to ₹285 crore, a maximum assistance of ₹100 crore is given. 

 

In the first round, the scheme received 710 proposals in various sub-categories. We are evaluating the applications in tranches. So far, 22 projects have been approved, and financial assistance of around ₹720 crore has been sanctioned. We are targeting the completion of Round 1 of the evaluation process over the next two months.

 

For the next round, which will be initiated soon, we are working towards a differentiated review framework, with processes calibrated to the scale and maturity of projects. This will help ensure faster decision-making while maintaining the rigour of evaluation.

 

Some multinational medtech manufacturers have suggested a change in how local content is calculated for public-procurement orders. Can we expect any changes?

 

Rules on public procurement apply to various other sectors, including medtech. These suggestions are before the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. Discussion on this is going on.

 

The department recently eased conditions for companies making medical devices to conduct foreign training for doctors. Why was the change made, and can we expect similar easing in the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP)?

 

No. Although the ethical rules enshrined in the Uniform Code for Marketing Practices in Medical Devices (UCMPMD) remain unchanged, we recently made amendments to it to ease the compliance burden and enhance ease of doing business.

 

The changes have been introduced keeping in mind training constraints, especially if the device is not available in India. The move, however, remains conditional, because foreign continued medical education will be allowed in cases of advanced clinical training or demonstration by experts, if such equipment and experts are not available in the country.  Such relaxations are not being considered for the UCPMP. 

 

Some medtech players raised concerns after the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) released its draft global tender enquiry (GTE) exemption list of 354 medical devices in February this year. Why has the publication of the final list been delayed?

 

The GTE list for medical devices issued by the Ministry of Finance is valid up to March 31, 2027. In February 2026, DoP initiated stakeholder consultations to update the GTE list, keeping in view the user requirements and recent developments in domestic manufacturing of medical devices. 

 

We are constituting expert panels based on therapeutic areas to evaluate the requests received from stakeholders. Based on the recommendations of the subject matter experts, DoP shall submit the proposal for revision of the GTE list to the Department of Health and Family Welfare (DoHFW).

 

Has the department seen a rise in applications under its Revamped Pharmaceuticals Technology Upgradation Assistance Scheme (RPTUAS), especially after revised Schedule M came into force?

 

Not actually. The scheme was launched in March 2024 to facilitate the technology upgrade of existing pharmaceutical units to comply with Revised Schedule M and the World Health Organization’s Good Manufacturing Practices (WHO-GMP).

 

We would like a large number of micro, small and medium units to utilise financial assistance under the scheme to undertake upgrade in accordance with the revised Schedule M norms.