India remains heavily dependent on imported APIs despite being the 'pharmacy of the world.' Critically analyse government measures, including PRIP, to address this paradox.

India supplies a large share of the world's generic medicines by volume, yet around two-thirds of its bulk drug and intermediate imports come from China [1] — a cost-driven dependence that makes the "pharmacy of the world" vulnerable at its own raw-material base. Government measures have narrowed this gap in parts, but have not yet dissolved the paradox.

Roots of the paradox

• India's strength lies in formulation manufacturing, not upstream chemistry; scale economies, cheaper power and fermentation capacity moved KSM/API production to China [1].
• Low R&D intensity kept firms in low-margin generics rather than original molecules, deepening reliance on imported inputs [5].

Measures taken and what they have achieved

• PLI for KSMs/DIs/APIs: of 48 approved projects, 38 covering 28 products were commissioned by December 2025, creating about 56,800 MT of annual capacity and avoiding imports worth roughly ₹2,192 crore [1].
• Bulk Drug Parks Scheme: three parks approved in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh to supply shared utilities and cut conversion costs [2][3].
• PRIP (2023-24 to 2027-28): a ₹5,000 crore Department of Pharmaceuticals scheme to shift the sector from cost-based to innovation-based growth, supporting about 300 projects worth ₹11,000 crore of R&D in new medicines, complex generics, biosimilars and devices, alongside Centres of Excellence at NIPERs [4][5]. Its second call opened in October 2025 after amendments to guidelines [4].

Critical assessment

• Incentives are product-specific and time-bound; once subsidies taper, the Chinese cost advantage in fermentation-based APIs may reassert itself.
• PRIP targets the innovation deficit, not import substitution directly — benefits are long-gestation, and the amendments signalled early implementation friction [4].
• Bulk drug parks remain under construction, so capacity gains are still prospective [3].

Taken together, these schemes have shifted policy from incentivising volume to building capability — the correct direction. Sustaining it requires stable power and effluent infrastructure, predictable pricing, and stronger industry-NIPER research linkages, so that self-reliance in APIs becomes commercially self-sustaining rather than subsidy-dependent — the true test of Atmanirbhar Bharat in health security.