Pharma industry leaders are urging the government to simplify GST on essential medicines, improve ease of doing business, enable easier access to long-term capital and provide greater policy clarity, amid more, in the upcoming union budget 2026.

Budget 2026-27 Must Align Policy, Science and Industry to Drive Pharma Innovation: Satish Reddy, Chairman, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories

As the industry undertakes a strategic shift from volume-led expansion to value-driven growth, closer alignment between science, policy and industry will be critical to advance innovation across the value chain. Expectations from union budget 2026-27 centre on the creation of a structured funding framework to deepen innovation and Research and Development (R&D) across the country.

India Needs Strong Budget Push to Bridge Pharma R&D Deficit: Arushi Jain, Managing Director, Akums Drugs

India currently spends around USD 3 billion annually on pharmaceutical R&D, compared with nearly USD 50–60 billion in the US and USD 15–20 billion in China. This gap reflects a deeper innovation deficit that constrains our ability to develop breakthrough therapies and future-ready technologies. Budget 2026 is a critical opportunity to prioritise API self-reliance, innovation funding and export incentives to truly strengthen India’s ‘pharmacy of the world’ position.

Pharma Needs Policy Clarity and Stronger Support: Gaurav Jain, Founder and CEO, Zane Pharmaceuticals

With the union budget 2026 around the corner, as part of India’s pharma ecosystem, we expect policy clarity and stronger institutional support for innovation-led growth. There is a clear demand for higher R&D funding and targeted incentives to strengthen domestic API manufacturing. The government must take concrete steps to improve the ease of doing business for MSME pharma players as well. There should be more focus on healthcare affordability and faster regulatory approvals. This, coupled with sustained support for digital health and supply-chain resilience, will be critical for the sector to scale responsibly and meet both domestic and global demands.

Budget Should Strengthen Access to Medicines across India: Dr Sujit Paul, Group CEO, DavaIndia

As India moves forward, the healthcare manufacturing and pharmacy sector will see continued progress due to increased demand for affordable medicines and increased growth for digital pharmacies. Therefore, the government should ensure that the budget is reflective of the aforementioned areas, with increased emphasis on domestic production of medicines, simplifying the GST around essential medicines, improving availability of credit for MSMEs in the pharmaceutical and health sectors, and investing in cold chain logistics, warehouse and digitalisation/technology around supply chain management. These investments will be the key to reduce costs and ensure access to medicines throughout India. Additionally, by providing incentives for R&D and expediting the approval process for new products, the Indian pharmaceutical industry will be able to move up the value chain, establishing India as not only the pharmacy of the world, but also the innovation hub of the world.

Budget must Back Innovation in Indian Pharma: Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets

With the domestic market at around USD 60 billion and exports nearing USD 30.5 billion, the sector has witnessed strong growth. The next chapter, however, must be about moving from a volume-led model to an innovation-driven one. There is a strong intent across the ecosystem to invest in higher-value capabilities, innovation and global competitiveness. Ahead of budget 2026, the industry is looking for targeted support to accelerate this transition. Key priorities include the restoration of weighted R&D deductions, extension of the PLI scheme to APIs, rationalisation of GST on raw materials and intermediates, and stronger incentives for biosimilars and vaccines. Taken together, these measures can lower financing costs, boost domestic manufacturing, enhance global competitiveness and create high-value employment.

Indian Pharma Needs Budget Push beyond Generics: Jashan Bhumkar, Director, Soujanya Life Sciences

India’s pharmaceutical sector is at a critical inflection point. While we have built global credibility in generics, the next phase of growth must focus on manufacturing depth and innovation-led scale-up. The upcoming budget should prioritise easier access to long-term capital, faster environmental and regulatory clearances and targeted incentives for complex APIs, fermentation-based products, probiotics, enzymes and specialty excipients. Support for pilot plants, technology transfer and first-of-its-kind commercialisation will be key if India is to move from volume-driven growth to high-value, IP-backed pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Predictable Policy Needed to Keep Indian Medicines Globally Competitive: Arpit Bhatia, Director, Laborate Pharmaceuticals

As India works towards strengthening its healthcare ecosystem, the upcoming budget is an opportunity to reinforce the fundamentals of pharmaceutical manufacturing. Greater focus on quality-linked incentives, support for domestic API production and continued investment in compliance-driven infrastructure will help Indian pharma companies to scale responsibly. For mid-sized manufacturers, ease of doing business, faster regulatory clearances and targeted tax rationalisation can unlock capacity expansion without compromising on standards. A predictable policy environment will be critical for ensuring that Indian medicines remain trusted, accessible and globally competitive.

Policy Support Sought to Boost Indigenous Ultra Pure Water Manufacturing: Shoeb Kurawadwala, MD and Founder, CN Water

As India accelerates Ayushman Bharat, semiconductor manufacturing and the green hydrogen ecosystem, access to affordable and high-quality Ultra Pure Water (UPW) infrastructure becomes mission-critical. We urge the government to grant ‘deemed export’ status to domestically-manufactured UPW equipment supplied to these strategic sectors. Such a move will provide fiscal parity for domestic suppliers, helping neutralise the high import duties on critical components that are still not manufactured locally. This will directly reduce project costs, improve price competitiveness and encourage deeper localisation of advanced manufacturing capabilities within India. 'Deemed export' recognition will not only strengthen India’s pharmaceutical and electronics supply chains, but also enable Indian manufacturers to compete on equal footing with global players. This policy support is essential to translate the vision of ‘Make in India’ from assembly to high-technology manufacturing, while ensuring long-term self-reliance in critical infrastructure.