NEW DELHI: India’s import dependency on raw materials for medicine has reduced by 25 per cent because of increased domestic manufacturing, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya claimed on Friday.
Without naming China, which accounts for about 66 per cent of India’s APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) imports, Mandaviya said there was a 25 per cent decline in import of crucial starting materials, APIs, and drug intermediates because of an increase in domestic production.
“India does not want to be dependent on any country for its critical requirements,” the minister said to media queries on how much India could reduce its import dependency from China.
To prevent a crisis caused by a disruption in supplies of imported APIs or an increase in prices, he said, India sought to encourage local manufacture of 53 critical bulk drugs by offering financial incentives to pharmaceutical companies.