India's pharma relies on China for about 65% raw materials

India Jun 23, 2026

India's pharma sector relies on China for about 65% of its vital raw materials: think active pharmaceutical ingredients and other essentials.
NITI Aayog's latest report flags supply chain risks, especially with fermentation-based products, and notes that rising environmental costs are making things tougher for local drugmakers.

NITI Aayog urges higher value medicines

To fix these issues, the report suggests India should branch out into higher-value medicines and boost teamwork between researchers and industry.
Building life sciences clusters could help speed up innovation and patenting.
Even with these hurdles, India is still a major player in generics, supplying one-half of Africa's generic drug demand, plus a big chunk to the US and UK.