Why India depends heavily on China for drug raw materials?

Why India depends heavily on China for drug raw materials?

India’s domestic market, too, was plagued by shortages of bulk drugs, mostly intermediates, as the Pharma industry largely depends on imports from China. This essentially means that Chinese imports are far more cost-effective for Indian pharma manufacturers.

Is India dependent on China for medicines?

Despite calls to reduce imports from China, India’s reliance on its hostile neighbour for the pharmaceutical sector remains. At least 60\% of India’s Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) requirements come from China.

How much Pharmaceutical does India import from China?

China had a huge share in India’s drug and pharmaceutical imports in 2019. Between April and December 2019, over 67 percent of the bulk drugs and drug intermediates imported by India came from China. This indicated that India depended heavily on pharmaceutical imports including drugs and surgical supplies.

What pharmaceuticals are imported from China?

Last year, China accounted for 95 percent of U.S. imports of ibuprofen, 91 percent of U.S. imports of hydrocortisone, 70 percent of U.S. imports of acetaminophen, 40 to 45 percent of U.S. imports of penicillin and 40 percent of U.S. imports of heparin, according to Commerce Department data.

Why API is not manufactured in India?

The cost of APIs being manufactured in India is higher due to various reasons including the low availability of key starting material (KSM). In the case of tenofovir, the KSM (Adenine) required is not produced in India due to the high cost of technology/infrastructure needed to manufacture it.

What raw materials does India import from China?

India’s overall imports of bulk drugs and drug intermediates amounted to $3.84 billion in fiscal to March 2021. Of this, $2.6 billion or 68\% of bulk drugs and intermediates are imported from China. imported feature in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM),” said the Pharmexcil director-general.

Why is India pharmacy of the world?

Presently, India is the world’s leading source of affordable HIV medicines since it’s also among the few with the ability to quickly manufacture newer HIV medicines as generics. Apart from medicines, India is one of the biggest suppliers of low-cost vaccines to countries all over the world.

Where does India import raw material for antibiotics?

Indian drug makers import around 70 per cent of their total bulk drug requirements from China. In the 2018-19 fiscal, the government had informed the Lok Sabha that the country’s drug makers had imported bulk drugs and intermediates worth $2.4 billion from China.

How many API manufacturers are in China?

According to KPMG, the Chinese API market has now diversified to over 2,000 API molecules and more than 7,000 API manufacturers (the number of manufacturers has increased by five times in the last five years) with an annual production capacity exceeding 2 million tonnes while the Indian industry has around 1,500 plants …

Why does India import from China?

China has granted market access to certain Indian goods and this has led to a rise in exports of agricultural commodities and marine exports to China. Among India’s top imports from China include electronic components, telecom instruments, computer hardware and industrial machinery.

Is China’s import policy good for Indian pharma?

Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has consistently maintained that the imports from China are due to economic considerations. This essentially means that Chinese imports are far more cost-effective for Indian pharma manufacturers.

Where do India’s pharmaceutical imports come from?

Over 63 per cent of India’s pharmaceutical imports are API and intermediates, and almost 70 per cent of it comes from China. Dependence on a single country for such crucial thing is not prudent in India’s national interest, hence there is a need to diversify its sourcing and develop domestic capacity, the officials said requesting anonymity.

Why are Indian drug manufacturers over-dependence on China for APIs?

Owing to the low-profit margin on APIs, Indian drug manufacturers consider it as a viable option to import APIs, make formulation drugs and export them. “The three factors responsible for over-dependence on Chinese imports are – wage cost, infrastructure facilities and tax benefits,” stated Dr Sakthivel.

Where do India’s imports from China come from?

In unforeseen circumstances, such as the most recent one when lakhs of Chinese facilities remained shut for over a year to step up their environmental compliance, India depended on countries like the US, Italy, Singapore and Hong Kong for import.