India’s pharma and medical devices strategies: an assessment of the production linked incentive (pli) scheme

India has one of the largest pharmaceutical Industries in the world. It is the largest provider of generic medicines globally, occupying a 20% share in global supply by volume, and also supplies 62% of global demand for vaccines. India ranks third worldwide for production by volume and fourteenth by value. Despite India being one of the largest exporters for generic medicine, since many years has been majorly dependent on China for raw materials like APIs, which has been a hindrance in the growth of the domestic manufacturing units. With the COVID-19 pandemic and increase in tension with China, India has decided to halt the export of many materials from China which includes APIs for bulk drug manufacturing and medical devices. This led to the extension Of the production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme to the pharmaceutical industry which was already in place for the electronics industry. The pandemic highlighted the fragility and interdependence of the global supply chain for prescription drugs, thus highlighting the ostentatious yet incapacitated healthcare edifice present in most countries. The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry experienced splintery incidents relating to the logistics of raw materials, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), excipients, and formulations. To overcome the aforementioned challenge, there was a dire need for urgent and concrete steps to ensure that India is not only self-reliant but is also capable of reducing the over-dependency of the world only on a few countries. This article analyses the Production related challenges India could face post-implementation and provides unequivocal recommendations.