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Expressing some cautiousness over the country’s pharma imports, Care Ratings in its latest report has said that India’s bulk drug imports from China increased in terms of value and volume from 64% and 62% during FY14 to 71% and 75% during FY23, respectively. In terms of value, during FY14 to FY23, the total bulk drug imports increased at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 7% as against 9% from China. It added that the country continues to depend on Chinese shipments despite the commissioning of various domestic manufacturing projects under the government's production-linked incentive scheme. It noted that the country continues to rely heavily (>50%) on some of the critical Key Starting Materials (KSM) from China.

Commissioning of bulk drug projects under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme along with backward integration projects undertaken by various Indian companies is expected to play a critical role in reducing the nation’s dependence on China to an extent. In FY14, the country imported a total of $5.2 billion of pharma, of which as much as $2.1 billion came in from China. The numbers rose to $6.4 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively in FY19, and further to $7 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively in FY21.

The northward movement continued in FY22 to $8.5 billion and $3.2 billion, respectively. The total inbound shipments marginally declined to $7.9 billion in FY23. However, the Chinese share jumped to $3.4 billion during that period. Bulk drugs emerged as the dominant component of imports, contributing 55-60% of India's total pharma imports over the past decade. Simultaneously, bulk drug imports have seen a steady compound annualised growth of about 7%, reflecting the industry's growing reliance on shipments from abroad. Besides, a significant portion of the country's pharma imports, including that of certain formulations, ayush and herbal, and surgical products, are sourced from various countries.