Pharma PLI Draws Rs 46,744 Crore Investment, 57 Devices Made

The Department of Pharmaceuticals, which works under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, has placed on record what its three production linked incentive schemes have delivered for bulk drugs, finished medicines and medical devices. Together they cover the whole chain, from the raw material that goes into a tablet to the scanner in a hospital, and the numbers below are counted up to June 2026.

Bulk drugs: the raw material end

The scheme for key starting materials, drug intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients was cleared in 2020 with an outlay of Rs 6,940 crore and it targets 41 critical products on which the country leaned heavily on imports. Of the 48 projects cleared, 39 have been commissioned and they make 28 ingredients. Investment on the ground stands at Rs 5,210.74 crore, ahead of the promised Rs 4,330 crore. Beneficiaries have sold goods worth Rs 3,792.49 crore, of which exports account for Rs 560.16 crore, and about 5,127 people have found work. Penicillin-G, Clavulanic Acid and Rifampicin, which came largely from abroad earlier, are now fermented in the country, with plants at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh among the new units.

Pharmaceuticals: the high-value end

The second scheme was approved in 2021 with an outlay of Rs 15,000 crore and pushes makers towards biopharmaceuticals, complex generics, patented and off-patent drugs, orphan drugs and auto-immune medicines. 55 applicants were picked, 20 of them small and medium units. Actual investment has reached Rs 46,744 crore against a target of Rs 17,275 crore, jobs created number 1,21,294, and sales from the start of the performance period in 2022-23 add up to Rs 4,02,869 crore, including exports of Rs 2,57,370 crore.

Medical devices: machines made at home

The device scheme was also approved in 2020, with an outlay of Rs 3,420 crore. It pays a 5 per cent incentive on incremental sales of eligible devices made in India for five years and covers four segments: cancer care and radiotherapy, radiology and imaging, anaesthesia along with cardio-respiratory and renal care, and implants. 57 devices are now in production here, among them magnetic resonance imaging machines, computed tomography scanners, cath labs, linear accelerators, C-arms, mammography and ultrasound machines and heart valves. Global names such as GE Healthcare, Siemens, Philips, Varex, Nipro and Omron have set up or widened plants, several of them with technology transfer arrangements.