Pharma leap: Volume to value-based growth as India targets $500-bn industry

The Budget sets out a structural reform-driven roadmap, balancing growth imperatives with social inclusion, and signalling continuity through resilience and innovation. It reflects a clear and deliberate push towards building long-term national capabilities, anchored in infrastructure development, large-scale skilling, advanced manufacturing, and artificial intelligence–driven actions. With a decisive focus on key sectors, the Budget sustains the investment momentum of recent years and strengthens the foundation for sustained economic expansion. Guided by the government’s three core kartavyas (growth, aspirations, and inclusion), the Budget reinforces confidence in India’s medium to long-term growth trajectory.

 

It is within this broader economic and industrial context that the prominence accorded to the pharmaceutical sector must be viewed. One of the most consequential aspects of the Budget is its timely focus on building an ecosystem to accelerate the growth of biologics and biosimilars, an area where India is poised for transformative growth. Globally, biologics are becoming central to the critical and lifesaving treatments, yet access remains constrained by high costs and concentrated manufacturing capabilities. While India is recognised as a trusted provider of high-quality, affordable medicines, the next phase of growth must come from higher-value, science-led therapies. The ₹10,000-crore Biopharma Shakti programme directly addresses this opportunity by strengthening domestic capabilities across the biopharmaceutical value chain, enabling India to transition from scale-driven manufacturing to innovation-led leadership.

 

The strategic direction outlined in the Budget is also strongly aligned with the Economic Survey 2025-26, which highlights that India’s pharmaceutical industry is steadily shifting from a volume-driven to a value-driven growth model. 

 

The announcement of three new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, along with the upgradation of seven existing institutes, will significantly expand access to advanced scientific education and specialised skills. These measures will help build a deeper pipeline of researchers, clinicians and industry-ready professionals, strengthening the foundation for sustained innovation. As India intensifies its focus on complex and rapidly evolving therapeutics, investment in human capital will be just as critical as investment in physical infrastructure.

 

Additionally, the proposal to establish a nationwide network of 1,000 accredited clinical trial sites has the potential to accelerate translational research, broaden patient participation across regions and shorten development timelines for new therapies. Furthermore, the regulatory reform represents another key pillar of the innovation-led agenda. 

 

The Budget recognises that innovation must translate into tangible benefits for patients. With the rising burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer and autoimmune disorders, the exemption of basic customs duty on 17 life-saving cancer drugs and medicines, and the extension of import duty exemptions to seven additional rare diseases, will provide meaningful relief to more patients by improving affordability and access.

 

With ambitions to grow into a $500-billion industry, Indian pharma must balance affordability with innovation and technology, scale with quality, and access with sustainability. 

 

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The writer is chairman, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories