Exports of pharmaceuticals and crude drugs from India registered a 19 per cent growth to reach Rs. 2,303 crore during April-May 2003 as against an export of Rs. 1,940 crore registered during the corresponding period, the previous year, as per the latest data available with Chemexcil.

Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy's Labs, Cadila Healthcare, Cipla, Wockhardt, Hetero Drugs and Unique Pharmaceuticals stand out amongst the top exporters, said Chemexcil officials. 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.

For the year ending March 2003 (12 months), the exports of pharmaceuticals and crude drugs from India registered a 20 per cent growth to reach Rs. 11,925 crore as against an export of Rs.9,943 crore registered in the previous year.

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.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry today is one of the largest and most advanced among such industries in the developing countries.

The industry manufactures bulk drugs belonging to several major therapeutic groups and has developed excellent facilities for production of all dosage forms.

According to the Union commerce ministry, India has the potential to emerge as a major production base for the global pharmaceutical market considering the large pool of low-cost skilled professionals and the fact that the cost of setting up a plant in India is 40 per cent cheaper compared to developed countries. The cost of bulk drug production in India is 60 per cent less compared to the cost in developed countries. Besides, raw materials for the Indian industry are also cheaper, making the Indian drugs industry competitive in the international drug industry.