The government’s budgetary provision of Rs 13,000 crore for BioPharma SHAKTI and the development of three dedicated chemical parks is a strategic investment in India’s future, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers J. P. Nadda said on Wednesday.
Addressing a post-Budget webinar on the theme “Sustaining and Strengthening Economic Growth”, Nadda said, as highlighted by Narendra Modi, free trade agreements (FTAs) serve as a gateway to the vision of Viksit Bharat and open new opportunities for Indian industries to expand globally.
Noting that India has earned the reputation of being the “pharmacy of the world” through its generics industry, the minister said nearly 40 per cent of medicines globally are expected to be biologics by 2035, while patents worth about $300 billion will expire by 2030. He said this presents a major opportunity for India to move towards biologics, supported by the BioPharma Mission, for which Rs 10,000 crore has been allocated over the next five years. Even a 1 per cent share in the global biosimilars market could translate into an annual opportunity of Rs 2 lakh crore for India, he added.
Nadda also stressed the need to strengthen institutions such as National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) by integrating them more closely with talent and skill development. He said the creation of 1,000 clinical trial sites across the country would significantly boost research capacity and innovation.
Emphasising the role of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in speeding up regulatory approvals, the minister said the organisation would be strengthened to support biosimilars and drug fermentation capabilities.
Highlighting the chemical sector, Nadda noted that India’s chemical industry currently has an output worth Rs 19.4 lakh crore but accounts for only about 3 per cent of the global market. To address infrastructure gaps, the government has earmarked Rs 3,300 crore to establish three world-class chemical parks with plug-and-play utilities, advanced effluent treatment systems, integrated logistics, and built-in safety mechanisms.
These parks are expected to reduce production costs by 20–40 per cent through industrial symbiosis and promote a circular economy. Nadda also outlined the government’s vision to increase India’s global chemical sector share to 5–6 per cent by 2030 and achieve a $1 trillion turnover by 2040.
Stressing the importance of collective responsibility, the minister said sustained economic growth requires active participation from all stakeholders. The post-Budget webinar, he added, reflected coordinated efforts among policymakers, industry leaders, financial institutions and domain experts to accelerate India’s growth trajectory and ensure effective implementation of the Union Budget 2026–27 announcements.