Exports of pharmaceuticals and crude drugs from India registered a 20 per cent growth to reach Rs. 11,925 crore during 2002-03 as against an export of Rs.9943 crore registered in the previous year, as per the latest data available with Chemexcil.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, pharma exports for all the four quarters of 2002-03 showed a clear growth as compared to the previous year. For the quarter of April-June, 2002-03, the pharma exports grew by 23 per cent to Rs. 2,846 crore from Rs. 2,311 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Exports in the July-September period of FY 03 rose by a whopping 30 per cent to Rs. 2,881 crore compared to Rs. 2,213 crore in the same period of the previous year. In October-December quarter exports rose by 17.78 per cent to Rs. 2,908 crore compared to Rs. 2,469 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. However, the January-March period, exports grew only by 11.52 per cent to Rs. 3,290 crore compared to Rs. 2,950 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy's Labs, Cadila Healthcare, Cipla, Wockhardt, Hetero Drugs and Unique Pharmaceuticals stand out amongst the top ten exporters, said Chemexcil officials. And the US continues to remain the key market for India. The US domestic market is placed at $ 200 billion in terms of annual sales. Indian pharmaceutical exports have been growing at the rate of 34 per cent into the US market.

According to a senior official at Chemexcil, Latin America, Western Europe and South East Asia are the newly emerging markets for Indian exports. "We have to specially watch out for the Latin American market," said the Chemexcil official. The Latin American pharmaceutical market is currently estimated to be worth $25 billion and is projected to grow further to $ 29 billion by 2005.