Prime Minister Narendra Modi has challenged India’s drugmakers to break into the world’s top five pharmaceutical groups, signalling an aggressive push to elevate the nation’s position in the global industry amid ongoing sector expansion.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set Indian drugmakers a strikingly ambitious target: he wants at least one or two of them to break into the world’s five biggest pharmaceutical groups. Speaking during his 80th Independence Day address, Modi said India had already made major progress in the sector, but insisted that the country should now be counted among the industry’s global leaders.
The remarks come as India’s pharmaceutical industry continues to expand in scale and reach. Government figures cited by NDTV Profit show the sector has more than 3,000 companies and 10,500 manufacturing facilities. India ranks third globally by volume and 11th by value, and it remains the world’s largest supplier of generic medicines, accounting for about 20% of global supply. Exports reached $30.5 billion in 2024-25, while the domestic market is expected to rise from $60 billion to $130 billion by 2030.
Even so, Indian companies remain short of the very top tier internationally. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is among the country’s most prominent players, but it is still outside the global top five. In April, Sun Pharma announced an $11.75 billion plan to buy Organon, a deal that the companies said would create a group with combined revenue of about $12.4 billion and lift Sun Pharma into the world’s top 25. Organon said the transaction is expected to close in early 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and shareholder consent.
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