Lok Sabha Question No. 1304 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-25
Subject: Drug Exports
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY, S.SELVAKUMARA CHINNAYAN

## MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1304(H) TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 TH  JULY, 2016

## DRUG EXPORTS

## 1304(H).  DR. RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY: SHRI S. SELVAKUMARA CHINNAYAN:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वािणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंत्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether India leads in the field of drug exports and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  quantum  of  drugs  exported  from  the  country  during  the  last  three  years  and  the current year;
- (c) whether  the  drug  exports  from  India  to  the  United  States  rose  23.4%  during  the  said period which is ahead of China's medicine export and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether India is considered internationally as the home of the safest drugs and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

## (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

(a)  :    India  exports    generic  pharmaceuticals  and  also   traditional  medicines.  Among  the generic  pharmaceutical exports, India is considered a leading exporter and has 2 nd position in  export  of  generic  drugs  in  terms  of  volumes.    The  latest  data  of  UN  comtrade  is  given below for the top four exporting countries for the year 2014:

(In Metric Tons)

|   Rank | Country   |   Year 2012 |   Year 2013 |   Year 2014 |
|--------|-----------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|      1 | Germany   |      623728 |      642790 |      640107 |
|      2 | India     |      353548 |      421500 |      420341 |
|      3 | France    |      342299 |      358682 |      360647 |
|      4 | China     |      286662 |      324813 |      349940 |

(Source: UN Comtrade - figures are for Jan-Dec)

- (b) :  The  q uantum of Drugs exported  by India during the last three years and the current year are as under :.

|                                | 2013_14   | 2014_15   | 2015_16   | 2016_17(APR to MAY)   |
|--------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------------------|
| Commodity                      | QTY(ton)  | QTY(ton)  | QTY(ton)  | QTY(ton)              |
| AYUSH AND HERBAL PRODUCTS      | 76720.12  | 92059.22  | 95066.47  | 15916.94              |
| BULK DRUGS, DRUG INTERMEDIATES | 305675.88 | 368351.90 | 351530.13 | 58883.51              |
| DRUG FORMULATIONS, BIOLOGICALS | 353762.21 | 414637.06 | 375335.27 | 69190.54              |
| Total                          | 736158.20 | 875048.17 | 821931.87 | 143990.99             |

(Source DGCI&S)

(c) :  Imports of Finished dosage Pharmaceuticals by USA for the last 3 years, as available in US Government website is given below.

| Imports of Finished dosage Pharmaceuticals of USA from their Government web site in USDmn   | Imports of Finished dosage Pharmaceuticals of USA from their Government web site in USDmn   | Imports of Finished dosage Pharmaceuticals of USA from their Government web site in USDmn   | Imports of Finished dosage Pharmaceuticals of USA from their Government web site in USDmn   | Imports of Finished dosage Pharmaceuticals of USA from their Government web site in USDmn   | Imports of Finished dosage Pharmaceuticals of USA from their Government web site in USDmn   | Imports of Finished dosage Pharmaceuticals of USA from their Government web site in USDmn   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Rank                                                                                        | Country                                                                                     | Fy-13                                                                                       | Fy-14                                                                                       | Fy-15                                                                                       | Gr%                                                                                         | Contbn                                                                                      |
| 1                                                                                           | Ireland                                                                                     | 18585.71                                                                                    | 20621.96                                                                                    | 24680.10                                                                                    | 19.68                                                                                       | 22.79                                                                                       |
| 2                                                                                           | Germany                                                                                     | 11414.04                                                                                    | 14331.89                                                                                    | 14983.59                                                                                    | 4.55                                                                                        | 13.83                                                                                       |
| 3                                                                                           | Switzerland                                                                                 | 9310.94                                                                                     | 10469.06                                                                                    | 10260.06                                                                                    | -2.00                                                                                       | 9.47                                                                                        |
| 4                                                                                           | United Kingdom                                                                              | 4611.01                                                                                     | 5196.54                                                                                     | 9927.60                                                                                     | 91.04                                                                                       | 9.17                                                                                        |
| 5                                                                                           | India                                                                                       | 5112.65                                                                                     | 5463.68                                                                                     | 6619.03                                                                                     | 21.15                                                                                       | 6.11                                                                                        |
| 6                                                                                           | Israel                                                                                      | 5596.74                                                                                     | 4551.78                                                                                     | 6080.80                                                                                     | 33.59                                                                                       | 5.61                                                                                        |
| 7                                                                                           | Canada                                                                                      | 3715.98                                                                                     | 4458.23                                                                                     | 5306.12                                                                                     | 19.02                                                                                       | 4.90                                                                                        |
| 8                                                                                           | Belgium                                                                                     | 3408.19                                                                                     | 4714.11                                                                                     | 4592.82                                                                                     | -2.57                                                                                       | 4.24                                                                                        |
| 9                                                                                           | Italy                                                                                       | 2702.87                                                                                     | 2721.25                                                                                     | 3631.34                                                                                     | 33.44                                                                                       | 3.35                                                                                        |
| 10                                                                                          | Denmark                                                                                     | 2829.39                                                                                     | 3254.40                                                                                     | 3547.68                                                                                     | 9.01                                                                                        | 3.28                                                                                        |
| 11                                                                                          | Singapore                                                                                   | 3398.87                                                                                     | 2464.47                                                                                     | 3217.29                                                                                     | 30.55                                                                                       | 2.97                                                                                        |
| 12                                                                                          | France                                                                                      | 2929.58                                                                                     | 2716.33                                                                                     | 3053.56                                                                                     | 12.41                                                                                       | 2.82                                                                                        |
| 13                                                                                          | China                                                                                       | 1716.51                                                                                     | 1831.25                                                                                     | 2072.03                                                                                     | 13.15                                                                                       | 1.91                                                                                        |
|                                                                                             | World Total                                                                                 | 83956.29                                                                                    | 91924.90                                                                                    | 108305.98                                                                                   | 17.82                                                                                       | 100.00                                                                                      |

(Source: Website of US Government - figures pertain to Oct - Sep of Fy 2013, Fy 2014 and Fy 2015).

It  may  be  observed  from  the  above  table  that  India  exported  finished  dosage pharmaceuticals worth USD 6619.03 mn during 2014-15 to USA and at the same time China exported products worth USD 2072.03 mn, which indicates that India's exports to US are ahead of China.

India's position in  Global exports of finished formulations for 3 years is 11 th while China's position is 18 th as indicated below :

| Global Exports of Finished dosage Forms in USD mn   | Global Exports of Finished dosage Forms in USD mn   | Global Exports of Finished dosage Forms in USD mn   | Global Exports of Finished dosage Forms in USD mn   | Global Exports of Finished dosage Forms in USD mn   |
|-----------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| Rank                                                | Country                                             | Year 2012                                           | Year 2013                                           | Year 2014                                           |
| 11                                                  | India                                               | 9532                                                | 11596                                               | 11507                                               |
| 18                                                  | China                                               | 4585                                                | 4841                                                | 5180                                                |

(Source UN Comtrade)

It may be noted that during  2015-16, India's exports to US have grown by 27.8%.

- (d) :  India is considered as Pharmacy of the world for supply of generic medicines, as India exports  generic version of drugs for almost all therapies and caters to over 200 countries across  the  globe.    Quality  wise  also  India  is  considered  to  be  reliable  supplier  of  quality drugs, which is evident from the fact that Indian manufacturing units have approvals from the international regulatory agencies of countries like USA, EU, South Africa and Japan.

*****