Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, delivering the keynote address at BioAsia 2025 in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
India must transition from being a manufacturing hub in pharma sector to becoming a global leader in innovation, said former NitiAayog CEO Amitabh Kant in his keynote address at BioAsia 2025 on Tuesday.
He highlighted the need for a paradigm shift from ‘Make in India’ to ‘Discover and Make in India for the World’, urging greater investment in research and development to foster a culture of scientific innovation.
Mr. Kant highlighted the necessity of creating an enabling ecosystem to support discovery-based innovation, addressing costs and risks associated with it. He called for an overhaul of India’s regulatory framework to simplify processes and encourage research investments. “We need to scrap a lot of rules and regulatory procedures to make the landscape simpler and more innovation-friendly,” he said.
He stressed the importance of government-industry-academia collaboration, funding for clinical trials, and capability-building in talent and skills.
Mr. Kant noted that India’s pharma exports had risen from $19 billion in 2019 to nearly $28 billion in 2024. However, he asserted that to maintain leadership, the sector must focus on biologics and biosimilars, particularly as non-communicable diseases (NCDs) become a major global challenge. “With the biosimilars market projected to rise significantly by 2030, India must invest in R&D to seize this opportunity,” he said.
He further added that discovery-based innovation is risky, but it is essential. “Quality manufacturing, infrastructure standards, and regulatory compliance are critical. We must adopt a unified global standard of excellence to ensure that the credibility of Indian pharmaceutical products remains intact,” he remarked, citing recent concerns over quality in certain export markets.
The role of emerging technologies such as AI, Machine Learning, and Data Analytics in drug discovery and manufacturing was another key focus.
“India has over 4.2 lakh tech engineers and ranks high on GitHub. With 92% of enterprises adopting AI, we must push for AI-driven disruption in pharma and healthcare,” he stated.
As the country moves towards Industry 4.0, Mr. Kant suggested government incentives such as weighted deductions for digital transformation spending and GST exemptions to encourage corporate investment in cutting-edge technologies. He also highlighted the success of India’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme in medtech and pharmaceuticals, expressing optimism about its long-term impact.
Looking ahead, he projected that India’s pharmaceutical sector, currently valued at around $50 billion, could grow to $150 billion by 2030 and $500 billion by 2047 if the right strategies were implemented.
Published – February 25, 2025 09:12 pm IST
