India is the third largest player globally in Pharmaceuticals in terms of volume and is the largest supplier of low cost generics and vaccines to the world. The Government is also taking steps in the form of various schemes to attract investments in pharmaceuticals and medical devices sectors, including for the Active Pharma Ingredients (API) manufacturing.

The details of the scheme bolstering the Active Pharma Ingredients (API) manufacturers in India isgiven below:

1. Production Linked Incentive Scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/ Drug Intermediates (DIs)/ Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in India.

• The Union Cabinet approved the scheme on 20.03.2020 with the objective to boost domestic manufacturing of identified KSMs, DIs and APIs.The tenure of the scheme is from FY 2020-21 to 2029-30, with the total financial outlay of ₹ 6,940 crores.
• The Financial incentive under the sub-scheme is provided on sales of 41 identified products categorized into four Target Segments.

2. PLI Scheme for Pharmaceuticals: -

• Eligible drugs under this schemeapproved on 24.02.2021 include Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients among other categories of pharmaceutical products. The Operational Guidelines have been issued on 1.6.2021.
• The total financial outlay of the scheme is ₹ 15,000 crore and the tenure of the scheme is from FY 2020-2021 to 2028-29.

3. Scheme for Promotion of Bulk drug parks

• The scheme of “Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks” approved on 20th March, 2020. The scheme provides for support to establish three (03) Bulk Drug Parks for creation of world class Common Infrastructure Facilities (CIF). Guidelines of the scheme were notified on 27^th July 2020.
• The total financial outlay of the scheme is ₹ 3000 crores. The tenure of the scheme is from FY 2020-2021 to FY 2024-2025.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Smt. Anupriya Patel, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

Production linked incentive scheme boosts domestic API manufacturing through targeted sales linked incentives and infrastructure support. The document describes three government schemes to bolster domestic production of APIs, KSMs and DIs: a PLI sub scheme that grants sales linked incentives for 41 identified products across target segments; a PLI Scheme for Pharmaceuticals including APIs under operational guidelines to encourage broader pharmaceutical manufacturing; and a Bulk Drug Parks scheme to establish up to three parks providing Common Infrastructure Facilities to support clustered API production.