Pharma exports grow 10% in FY24 despite global disruptions, quality concerns

India’s pharmaceuticals exports seem to be bucking the trend. Just when the geopolitical tensions and global demand slump have led to a contraction in overall goods exports,  pharma exports jumped 9.6% to touch $27.8 billion in FY24.

This is the highest exports growth for the pharma sector in the past three years. Experts said that key categories such as generic formulations (73% of total exports) and API (active pharmaceuticals ingredients) categories witnessed robust growth from critical markets such as US, Europe, and Africa.

“The share of Middle Eastern countries, which is at the centre of geopolitical turmoil, in total exports is quite low at around 3.7%. While it’s too early to say about the cascading effect of Iran-Israel conflict, but the pharma sector has been riding out the global storms unscathed so far,” said Ravi Uday Bhaskar, director general of Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil).

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The past two years have been particularly tough for Indian drugmakers. A series of quality lapses involving Indian drugs were reported in countries like Gambia, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan. In 2023, for instance, Indian-made medicines came under scrutiny after patients developed complications following cataract surgeries at government hospitals. Prior to that, the death of 88 children in Gambia and Uzbekistan from Indian-made cough syrup affected the country’s image for being a global leader in the pharma space.

Following these incidents, the government swung into action and revised the rules under Schedule M of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 in January this year. These rules have introduced new quality standards in line with the current global regulatory requirements.

Experts said that drugmakers are looking for innovative ways to protect and grow exports despite the difficult market environment. “Indian companies are investing heavily on upgrading their product range. They are getting into complex generics, injectables and biosimilars categories to grow the exports market. At the same time, pharma exporters are expanding their geographies to Japan and Latin American countries. Having said that, there’s lot more that can be done to increase the exports market further,” said Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA).