India is ramping up efforts to diversify pharmaceutical exports beyond the U.S., targeting semi-regulated markets in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia to mitigate risks from tariff tensions, officials at the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) said.
The trade body also plans to push sales of finished formulations to China to help narrow India’s widening trade deficit. The domestic industry imports over 60% of its active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and raw materials from China.
Although Indian drug exports are currently exempt from US tariffs of up to 50% under President Donald Trump’s trade policies, uncertainty has kept the sector wary. The US remains India’s largest market, accounting for slightly more than one-third of total pharma exports, mainly consisting of low-cost generics. Shipments to the country jumped 20% to about $10.5 billion in FY25.
According to Pharmexcil, the focus now is on how small, medium and large Indian firms can collaborate to expand into semi-regulated markets. The council will submit its strategy to the government next week. Earlier this week, it was reported that India is also eyeing stronger pharma exports to Russia, the Netherlands and Brazil. India’s trade deficit with China reached $99.2 billion in FY25, driven by surging imports of electronics and consumer durables. If even 20% of this gap can be offset by pharmaceutical exports, we could generate around $6 billion from China, says Pharmexcil.
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