Replying to a supplementary query during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, the minister asserted that the central government has taken several steps in the last 11 years to boost domestic production and reduce imports.
India’s imports of APIs (bulk drugs, drug intermediates) stood at Rs 36,229 crore in 2022-23, Rs 37,721 crore in 2023-24 and Rs 39,214 crore in 2024-25.
The imports from China were Rs 25,551 crore in 2022-23, Rs 27,055 crore in 2023-24 and Rs 29,064 crore in the last fiscal.
Nadda said the share of China has increased to 74 per cent last fiscal from 70 per cent in 2022-23.
Nevertheless, the minister asserted that the export of API is more than the import.
“The export is Rs 41,493 crore and the import, which we are having, is Rs 39,215 crore. So, it should be very clear that we are exporting more APIs than we are importing,” Nadda highlighted. The minister said the Centre has started a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme with an outlay of Rs 6,940 crore.
“The objective is to promote the manufacturing of the key starting materials (KSM), drug intermediaries and the APIs, and to reduce the import dependence on China,” he said.
The minister informed that anti-dumping duty and minimum import price have been fixed to maintain the market.
Nadda said the Centre is taking all steps to make India self-reliant in the pharma sector.
Under the PLI Scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical KSMs / drug intermediates (DIs) and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in India (commonly known as PLI Scheme for Bulk Drugs), domestic manufacturing capacity of about 56,800 tonnes per annum has been established for 28 out of 41 identified critical products.
The scheme has resulted in cumulative sales of Rs 2,720 crore reported till December 2025, including exports of Rs 527.96 crore, thereby avoiding imports worth Rs 2,192.04 crore. The scheme has also generated employment for 4,896 persons till December 2025.