Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced a proposal to invest ₹10,000 crore in India’s biopharmaceutical sector over the next five years, aiming to strengthen domestic drug innovation and manufacturing, particularly in biologics and biosimilars.
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In the Union Budget 2026-27, the government announced the launch of Biopharma SHAKTI, short for Strategy for Healthcare Advancement through Knowledge, Technology and Innovation, aimed at positioning India as a global biopharma manufacturing hub.
The programme will be rolled out with an outlay of ₹10,000 crore over the next five years and will focus on building a strong ecosystem for domestic production of biologics and biosimilars, according to information from the PIB.
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As part of the initiative, a dedicated biopharma network will be created, including the establishment of three new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research and the upgradation of seven existing institutes. The plan also includes setting up a nationwide network of more than 1,000 accredited clinical trial sites across India to support research and innovation.
What are biopharmaceuticals?
Biopharmaceuticals are medicines developed using living cells or organisms and are considered more complex than traditional chemical drugs, with growing demand in areas such as cancer treatment, vaccines and autoimmune diseases.
Dr Sameer Bhati, a public health analyst, spoke on the announcement and said the 10,000-crore Biopharma Shakti initiative signals a decisive shift towards preventive, accessible, and future-ready healthcare. Strengthening biopharmaceutical R&D will reduce import dependence and making life-saving therapies more affordable, he stated.
“Higher tobacco taxation is a proven public health measure to curb consumption and lower cancer and heart disease burdens, while upgrading the WHO research centre in Jamnagar enhances India’s global disease surveillance and pandemic preparedness,” he said, also lauding the investments in Ayush and Ayurveda institutions.
Alongside the biopharma push, the finance minister outlined plans to expand manufacturing capacity across six priority areas, including strategic sectors, healthcare, advanced technologies and frontier industries, as part of the government’s broader industrial growth strategy, news agency PTI reported.
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Sitharaman also announced Semiconductor Mission 2.0, which will focus on developing equipment and materials based on full-stack Indian intellectual property, strengthening the country’s ambitions to build a self-reliant semiconductor ecosystem, the PTI report stated.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)