India’s pharmaceutical exports are projected to cross $20 billion by 2020 according to Industry bodies. This is a direct result of an additional demand for pharmaceutical products from neighbouring countries like China, said Ravi Uday Bhaskar, Director of Pharma Export Promotion Council.

India’s pharmaceutical exports have grown steadily by 2.91% to $17.27 billiom in 2017-18.Bhaskar went on to explain that many countries have been looking to cut healthcare expenses which has led them to invest these funds in ‘generics’ provided by many Indian providers. This represents a big opportunity for India’s APIs.

“If (Indian pharma companies) focus on that, certainly (exports are) going to be more than $20 billion by 2020,” Bhaskar told ET. “This is a reasonable and practical figure.” 

China remains a major supplier of APIs on the international stage but Chinese makers have also been importing APIs from India in substantial quantities of late.

“They wanted to have APIs from Indian companies which have a very strong international accreditation,” he said, adding that this was a significant development for India. 

Exports from India to China have increased by 44% to $182.67 million in 2017-18. A major portion of these exports have been APIs. This has been credited to the upgrade of manufacturing facilities undertaken in India.

Bhaskar added that he was “optimistic” about the growth in India’s pharma exports for 2018-19 due to “positive trends” in regions such as Latin America and the Commonwealth of Independent States. “These factors are going to help us.” 

India’s pharma exports to the US and North America, which contributes to over 30% of the country’s outbound shipments, dropped in 2017-18, said Bhaskar. 

The value of exports to the US fell 8.35% to $5,114.70 million due to factors like price erosion and consolidation and cartelisation of major drug distributors in the region, which has given them “tremendous negotiating power to bargain,” he said.