No third world country other than India has the distinction of having a world class pharmaceutical industry today. China and Brazil are probably two other countries which are very close to India's size and quality levels. But the kind of international presence and the level of sophistication in manufacturing and research, the Indian pharmaceutical industry achieved so far, both China and Brazil cannot match. Two main factors are responsible for attaining this kind of excellence by the Indian pharmaceutical industry. First, an urge to adopt better manufacturing standards amongst pharmaceutical entrepreneurs in India. Secondly, constant drive of the industry to enter the international market. In the eighties, India established itself as a leading exporter of quality APIs and intermediates to the world pharmaceutical industry confined largely to the US and Europe. Dr Reddy's and Ranbaxy have thus earned the reputation of reliable Indian suppliers of the drug raw materials to the international companies. They were followed by a large number of medium and small players in the subsequent years. With the exposure to international market, the leading Indian companies had also started upgrading their manufacturing facilities. Gradually getting approval of manufacturing facilities by international regulatory agencies like US FDA,UK MHRA,TGA, etc has become a routine amongst all pharmaceutical exporters. India can thus claim to have the largest number of US FDA approved manufacturing facilities outside the US. And that has prompted Indian companies to shift from API manufacturing to more profitable and a fast growing segment, generics. Currently a dozen top Indian companies are major suppliers to the US and European market. This is no small achievement for a developing country like India. To maintain this trend and grow further from this stage, it is important for the Indian industry to look at the next stage of growth. That is what leaders of Indian pharma industry has been doing during the last two years: acquiring companies and building alliances mainly in the developed world. During the last two years, Indian pharma industry invested almost Rs 2000 crore for acquiring and building tie-ups in the US and Europe. Corporates like Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy’s, Wockhardt, Sun Pharma, Lupin, Torrent, Zydus Cadilla, Glenmark, Shasun and Matrix are already having direct presence in Americas and Europe either by buying companies or by acquiring stakes. Now a number of medium sized Indian companies are also aspiring to set up bases in the US. The main objective of most of the Indian companies is to capture a sizable share of global generics market estimated at US $ 52 billion. This may not be a tough task for the Indian pharma companies considering its current potential. But the great challenge before the Indian pharma industry is how to make a dent into branded market of the developed world.