Pharmaceuticals & biotech.

Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing generates an estimated ₹2.8 lakh crore of domestic gross value added in FY26 (0.9% of national GVA, 6.0% of manufacturing), built on a ₹2.46 lakh crore domestic branded-generics market growing 8-9% a year and US$33.2 bn of exports, about a third of which goes to the United States where Indian firms supply roughly 40% of generic prescriptions by volume. Growth has alternated between an export-led phase (FY05-FY15, post product-patent regime) and a domestic-led phase (FY15-FY22, during US generic price deflation), with both engines now expanding together since FY23. The industry is India's most export-competitive manufacturing activity and one of the most richly valued in the equity market (48x earnings), but remains structurally exposed upstream, importing about 40% of APIs and around 75% of fermentation-based key starting materials, mostly from China. The base case takes GVA to ₹4.4 lakh crore by FY30 and ₹7.6 lakh crore by FY35, driven by chronic-therapy growth, new GLP-1 launches, and a shift toward complex generics, biosimilars and CDMO work as the oral-solid US generics business matures.

Estimated GVA

2.8 ₹ LC · FY26

% of national GVA

0.9 % · FY26

% of manufacturing GVA

6.0 % · FY26

Domestic market (IPM), MAT Mar-2026 at retail value

2.46 ₹ LC (+8.6% YoY) · FY26

Exports

33.2 US$ bn (7.5% of merchandise exports) · FY26

Profit pool (listed ₹0.62 LC + private ≈₹0.2 LC)

≈0.8 ₹ LC · FY26

Employment (direct)

≈1.0 mn (plus ≈1.7 mn in stockists & chemists) · FY26

Listed market cap (pharma only)

≈28 ₹ LC · Sep-2026