NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced the launch of Biopharma Shakti, a dedicated initiative to develop India as global bio-pharma manufacturing hub, with a proposed outlay of Rs 10,000 crore over five years.
In her Budget 2026-27 presentation to Parliament, the finance minister said, the programme will focus on building a biopharma-centric innovation and manufacturing network.
"India's disease burden is observed to be shifting towards non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cancer and auto-immune diseases. Biological medicines are key to longevity and quality of life at affordable costs. To develop India as a global bio-pharma manufacturing hub, I propose the bio-pharma, Shakti, with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 crore over the next five years."
“This will build the ecosystem for domestic production of biologics and biosimilars,” she said.
"It will also create a network of 1,000 accredited India clinical trials sites. We propose to strengthen the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation to meet global standards and approve timeframes through a dedicated scientific review and specialists," she added.
She said this will include a biopharma focused network with three new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research and upgrading seven existing ones.
Sitharaman in her ninth budget presentation said the government proposes to create a network of over 1,0000 accredited Indian Clinical Trials sites.