Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said at the Bharat Health Global Expo 2026 in New Delhi on Sunday (September 6) that India must build resilient, globally integrated healthcare supply chains and move beyond generics to research, development and innovation. He said India must also strengthen its position as a trusted healthcare partner of the world.
Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada and Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal also attended.
Goyal said the world is increasingly wary of excessive dependence on one or two locations, and of supply chains that could be weaponised. India, he said, had earlier lost ground in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and Key Starting Materials (KSMs) for a variety of reasons, and it was time to restore resilience.
He said resilience should not mean an inward-looking approach. India does not need to indigenise everything, and imports would continue where required. Products should be available from multiple geographies and companies so that no one or two countries or companies can hold businesses to ransom. Pooling India's demand, he said, would identify imported products that could be made domestically.
Competition for investment is no longer limited to developing countries, Goyal said: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Europe are also seeking it. Other countries are seeking resilience too, so the sector needs a global outlook. Indian companies may need to invest abroad, including in African countries, for last-mile delivery, local value addition and job creation.
Goyal said India's success in generics came from sustained effort by the industry, but India cannot rest its case there if it aims to become a developed country by 2047. He urged companies to develop and patent their own products and to use the Research and Development Innovation Fund (RDIF). New molecules, biosimilars and biotechnology, he said, should be the next frontier.
He said India must offer a regulatory mechanism that makes R&D attractive, with an open approach to clinical trials, patenting and the introduction of new products. Indian regulators, he said, should examine rules in more developed countries and move towards greater regulatory convergence. Unless India's mindset aligns with the developed world, he said, it cannot aim to become a developed country by 2047.
On infrastructure, Goyal said bulk drug parks are coming up in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, including old and new parks. He said 100 new industrial parks are also coming up, where dedicated areas can be provided for pharma and healthcare if required.
On medical devices, he said India still has a long way to go and must shift from assembly to domestic production of components and the wider ecosystem. MSMEs can support indigenisation of components and equipment, while larger companies can create scale. Doctors, nurses, technicians and hospitals would have to become more aware of better products available in India, he said.
On medical value travel, Goyal said almost USD 8 billion is spent in this area and called for it to be taken up on a mission mode. He said the government, through the EPM and the India Brand Equity Fund, would support initiatives to promote medical care in India and urged the industry to come forward with proposals quickly.
On Ayush, he said India is still exporting raw herbs and called for greater scientific validation of Ayush products so that they gain wider global acceptance.
Goyal said free trade agreements (FTAs) are opening global markets, with almost two-thirds of the global market already open to India on preferential terms. India is negotiating another 8 to 10 FTAs or preferential trade agreements (PTAs), which he said would give access to almost 75 per cent of global trade.
He said FTAs until 2014 gave access to markets with a combined GDP of USD 10 trillion. The nine FTAs covering 38 developed countries open access to a combined GDP of USD 60 trillion, six times as much, he said, adding that many had been stuck for 25 years.
Goyal said Viksit Bharat 2047 rests on the shoulders of the healthcare sector, which must deliver preventive wellness and curative care to 1.4 billion people.
With reference to the views expressed by the Union Commerce and Industry Minister on India's healthcare supply chains, consider the following statements:
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Consider the following pairs:
Item : Description as per the Minister's remarks
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I: India cannot rest its case on generics alone if it aims to become a developed country by 2047.
Statement-II: India must develop and patent its own products, use the Research and Development Innovation Fund (RDIF), and treat new molecules, biosimilars and biotechnology as the next frontier.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
