India's pharmaceutical exports touched a record $28.4 billion in FY26, growing 12.6% year-on-year and reinforcing the country's position as the world's pharmacy. The United States remained the largest market, accounting for 31% of total pharma exports at $8.8 billion, driven by aggressive generic drug filings and approvals from the US FDA. Biosimilar exports, which are a rapidly growing category, grew 48% to $3.2 billion.
Active pharmaceutical ingredient exports grew 14% to $6.2 billion as Indian API manufacturers captured market share from Chinese producers amid global supply chain diversification trends. European markets grew 11% while emerging markets in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America grew 18% on the back of India's affordable generic drug positioning. The government's PLI scheme for pharmaceuticals has catalysed Rs 18,000 crore of investment in production facilities.
Pharma Export Promotion Council Chairman Dinesh Dua expressed confidence that India can achieve $50 billion in pharmaceutical exports by 2030 through a combination of generic volume growth, biosimilar penetration in regulated markets, and increasing export of complex formulations and specialty products. Key risks include US FDA import alerts on Indian facilities, pricing pressure in the US generics market and potential tariff actions that could affect competitiveness in key markets.
