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| Country | Population (approx) | Land Area (sq km) | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | ~1.41 billion | ~9.6 million | Huge land, huge population — more space per person |
| India | ~1.43 billion | ~3.3 million | Similar population to China but far less land |
| Pakistan | ~241 million | ~881,000 | Much smaller population, limited land |

How reliant is the Indian pharma industry on China?
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How reliant is the Indian pharma industry on China?
A story about why the world’s pharmacy still needs China’s chemistry and what India can do to catch up.finshots.in
In today’s Finshots, we tell you why the world’s pharmacy still needs China’s chemistry and what India can do to catch up.
The Story
India loves to call itself the pharmacy of the world. And that’s not without reason. We make and export generic drugs to over 200 countries. But beneath this success story lies an uncomfortable truth. That the pharmacy depends on another supplier for its raw materials. Yup, because India does make the pills, but it doesn’t make enough of the ingredients that make those pills work.
Those ingredients are called APIs, or Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, which are the core chemicals that give a drug its therapeutic effect. And to make those APIs, you need something called Key Starting Materials (KSMs) which are the high-quality raw inputs used in the earliest stages of production. So think of APIs as the cake and KSMs as the flour and butter that go into baking it.
For many critical APIs or KSMs, our import dependence is 60–70% on China, and in some cases, that number is close to100%.
Source: RIS | Discussion Paper 268![]()
Now, this dependency wasn’t built overnight. It’s the result of decades of economic drift. Back in the 1980s, India produced most of its APIs domestically. But over time, environmental regulations, high energy costs, and the rise of cheaper Chinese imports made many plants simply unviable. So by the early 2000s, it was logically more profitable to focus on formulations or the so called ‘finished drugs’ than making the chemistry behind them. And that’s how Indian manufacturers quietly outsourced that part of the chain to China.
And honestly, for a while, no one noticed until the pandemic hit. When Chinese factories shut down, prices of common APIs like paracetamol and azithromycin spiked overnight. The supply chain froze, production slowed, and the world’s pharmacy discovered it didn’t control its own shelves.
Which brings up the question: what did we do, or are doing, to address this bottleneck?
Well, the government’s response has been to roll out a ₹7,000 crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to rebuild domestic API capacity. And as a part of this, it approved building three Bulk Drug Parks in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh – and pushed companies to restart manufacturing of certain compounds or fermentation-based antibiotics. Take, for instance, Aurobindo Pharma. They recently commissioned a ₹2,400 crore plant to produce Penicillin G – an antibiotic used to treat a wide range of bacterial infections.
Similarly, several companies, such as Alkem Labs and Sun Pharma, have started producing clavulanic acid, the primary ingredient in Augmentin, another antibiotic.
In just the last 2 years, since the start of the PLI scheme, we’ve had close to ₹3,000 crore worth of investments from various companies to start producing APIs and KSMs.
But was this enough to cease the dependence on China?
Well, not really. And let me explain why.
China has been a leader in this segment for the last few decades. Which means that it has achieved economies of scale i.e. having the know-how to produce these items economically and at a large scale.
But how did China get to this scale, you ask?
By treating pharmaceuticals as a strategic industry as far back as the 1990s and into the 2000s. It offered cheap land, reliable utilities, low-interest loans, and export-linked tax incentives to drug manufacturers. And gradually, thousands of small and mid-sized API producers sprouted across provinces like Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shandong.
However, the real turning point came when China integrated environmental compliance into its supply chains. This was when many Western countries scaled back bulk drug production due to concerns about pollution, and China filled that gap by building dedicated chemical parks with centralized waste treatment. It also built an ecosystem where KSM producers, intermediate processors, and API manufacturers operated in close proximity, so logistics costs can be slashed drastically.
But China’s rise wasn’t just about policy. It was also about resources.
You see, many of the ingredients used in pharmaceutical chemistry rely on certain minerals and specialty chemicals. These elements are used in everything from catalysts in fermentation to the purification of compounds. They are essential for producing high-purity APIs on a large scale. And China holds a near-monopoly on that front. It controls roughly 60–70% of global rare earth mining and has a near-monopoly on its processing. This means that apart from having cheaper access to these materials, Chinese manufacturers also have an almost guaranteed access to processed specialty chemicals and minerals.
This kind of policy makes it very unstable to open a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility outside of China and to maintain continuous access to the raw ingredients needed to produce APIs at a competitive price.
Apart from policy and raw material, China has another advantage: labour. As per a World Bank study, if a typical Western API company has an average wage index of 100, this index is as low as 8 for a Chinese company and 10 for an Indian company. This means that if a Western company pays its workers ₹100 for a certain amount of work, a Chinese company would only pay about ₹8, and an Indian company would pay about ₹10 for the same job.
And lastly, there’s just one more advantage where China really takes the home run. And that is infrastructure. Since industrial clusters in China integrate chemicals, solvents, utilities, and waste treatment… the API plants can buy cheap steam, power, and intermediates next door. All while India’s units face higher input costs and patchy utilities despite progress in the new parks.
So, there you have it:
In a nutshell, these four factors are why China has built a thriving API manufacturing industry. You could say that they mastered the chemistry, the scale, and the economics that make the drug industry stick. India, meanwhile, mastered the branding and distribution that took it to the world.
- Public policy,
- Rare earth minerals,
- Labour, and
- Infrastructure.
We excel at finished medicine, but at the most energy and capital-intensive stages like fermentation and key intermediates, we ceded ground decades ago. And rebuilding that lost chain takes time. It needs reliability and scale, the kind that can’t be faked with pilot runs or short-term subsidies. And it needs trust. Because global buyers, especially in the US and EU, now demand stricter traceability, cleaner production, and consistent quality – all the things that can raise costs just as Chinese suppliers discount to defend their share.
Still, India has a shot worth fighting.
It doesn’t need to replace China entirely. But just reduce its vulnerability by delivering on low-cost utility drugs from the bulk-drug parks we spoke of above. Plus, if big formulations sign multi-year purchase deals, and if we double down on high-import-risk APIs like antibiotics and vitamins, we could build an ecosystem where chemistry becomes as much our strength as formulations once did.
Moreover, we can also prioritise fermentation and high-import-risk molecules under PLI, while encouraging domestic intermediates to cut Chinese feedstock dependence. And lastly, enforce quality and build traceability to win premium buyers.
Done well, these can help de-risk the chokepoints that we face today and anchor a resilient base that lets ‘the world’s pharmacy’ stand on more of its own raw materials. And maybe that’s the real test for India’s chemical and pharma future. What do you think?
fellow indians, do you lot think you will catch up to China, regarding Api's?
@Rajdeep @cricketjoshila @Champ_Pal @JaDed @Devadwal @uppercut @Theanonymousone @straighttalk @Vikram1989 @RexRex @Varun @Romali_rotti @Bhaijaan @Cover Drive Six

India is unlikely to ever catch up to China despite having similar populations.
These are the reasons:
1) Chinese people on average are 30% more intelligent than the Indians (as per average IQ scores).
2) China is 4-5 times superior to India militarily and economically. If India try any Tandoor with China, India may cease to exist.
3) China isn't politically correct. They don't care what rest of the world think. So, India can't play victim card with China.
4) Chinese people in general believe in self-accountability and self-improvement. Indians are complete opposite; Indians think they are #1 in everything and get defensive easily.
5) China have psychologically scarred India since 1962. They have literally grabbed 38000 sq km of Indian territory since 1962 (including 2000 sq km of territory since 2021).
6) India import a lot from China. China import very little from India. India is dependent on China for certain products. China is not dependent on India for anything.
In a nutshell, China is one country that India cannot one up and may never one up.
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China Tests Advanced EUV Chip Machine Prototype | Former ASML Engineers Involved | WION
China reportedly completes and tests a prototype EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) chip-making machine in Shenzhen, signaling a major shift in the global semiconductor race. The secret project is said to involve former ASML engineers, highlighting China's push to advance its chip-making capabilities

@cricketjoshila, do you agree with my assessment?![]()
What has Bangladesh built?Bravo.
While China focuses on building important things, India focuses on cows and sanghism.
No wonder why China always dominates India.![]()



Lol reminds of this fight...poor Jake or some supa power also pretending to be heavyweight before China
Country Population (approx) Land Area (sq km) What it means China ~1.41 billion ~9.6 million Huge land, huge population — more space per person India ~1.43 billion ~3.3 million Similar population to China but far less land Pakistan ~241 million ~881,000 Much smaller population, limited land
this is the answer india can only fight people smaller then them if it comes to fighting someone their own size they shat their pants.
View attachment 160105

what isbangla deshs contribution in this that u r. Jumping?China Tests Advanced EUV Chip Machine Prototype | Former ASML Engineers Involved | WION
China reportedly completes and tests a prototype EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) chip-making machine in Shenzhen, signaling a major shift in the global semiconductor race. The secret project is said to involve former ASML engineers, highlighting China's push to advance its chip-making capabilities
stop whinning and crying,what isbangla deshs contribution in this that u r. Jumping?
What is pakistan doing other than trying to climb on China's back, pakistan lives on bailouts of IMF and pakistani talk big and jum up and down on the achievement of others, some thing east pakistanis have inherited.stop whinning and crying,
stick to the topic,
China making big jumps while india semi conductors crashed in the 1980's - yet now you think you can make a come back by clicking your fingers, very delusional
Chinese don't work as perBangladeshi fantasiesIt would be brilliant if China take Arunachal Pradesh. I think at some point China may do exactly that.
Also, Himachal Pradesh should perhaps go to China as well.
West Bengal and northeast India should go to Bangladesh. But, that may not happen anytime soon. May happen in the very distant future.
China need to continue the good work which is keeping India in check.
@cricketjoshila, do you agree with me?![]()
What is pakistan doing other than trying to climb on China's back, pakistan lives on bailouts of IMF and pakistani talk big and jum up and down on the achievement of others, some thing east pakistanis have inherited.
WHY India Can NEVER Grow Like China
So true, sanghis your thoughts below:
@Rajdeep @cricketjoshila @Champ_Pal @JaDed @Devadwal @uppercut @Theanonymousone @straighttalk @Vikram1989 @Varun @Romali_rotti @Bhaijaan @Cover Drive Six @rickroll @RexRex @rpant_gabba, @Romali_rotti @kron @globetrotter @Hitman @jnaveen1980 @Local.Dada @CrIc_Mystique @Van_Sri
#FreeMinoritiesOfIndiaFromHindus
#SaveAllIndianMinorities
#FreeIndiaFromHinduExtremism
#SanctionIndiaIndians

can someone show me the indian version and i hope its not a indian scam call centreWe Investigated China’s Silicon Valley (It's Not What We Expected)
@Rajdeep @cricketjoshila @Champ_Pal @Devadwal @uppercut @straighttalk @Vikram1989 @Varun @Romali_rotti @Bhaijaan @Cover Drive Six @rickroll @RexRex @rpant_gabba, @Romali_rotti @kron @globetrotter @Hitman @jnaveen1980 @Local.Dada @CrIc_Mystique @Van_Sri @nish_mate @SportsWarrior @kaayal @saimayubera
@straighttalk @Devadwal @Champ_Pal @Vikram1989 @Bhaijaan @HitmanWhy India still can’t beat China?
Reached mars but cant build toilets on earth in its country for its citizens.India has reached mars while you guys are hanging by Chinese coat tails
Reached mars but cant build toilets on earth in its country for its citizens.
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Beyond all the conspiracy theories..here are the reasonsChina-India Border Conflicts and stark comparison with India's attitude towards Pakistan:
India and China have fought a full-fledge war in 1962 and have been involved in multiple skirmishes too like 1967 Nathu La clashes, 1987 Sumdorong Chu standoff, 2017 Doklam plateau tensions and 2020 Galwan Valley Clash. But never have they dared to conduct a "surgical strike" there and never have they dared to challenge their occupation at Akshai Chin (post 1962 wars).
But when it comes to Pakistan, the Indian media goes bonkers and keep on pushing the incumbent government for a violent face off. So the question is why journalists like Arnab Goswami favors for the same style war against Pakistan as they love to conduct against China....
I won't write an essay in response....but a hyena can never fight the bigger beast alone. Simple !Beyond all the conspiracy theories..here are the reasons
China is not a terrorist country.
China and India has disputes...there are skirmishes...which India responds forcefully...it occupies siachen. Removed Chinese from dokalam, opened fire on Chinese. And occupied heights to force Chinese to withdraw from whatever posts they gained during their salami slicing. The interactions are local ..firing is minimal.
Against whom would we conduct surgical strikes ..have you seen the terrain... We attack terrorists..there are no terrorists in china.
Third China is a more powerful country ..why would we start a war against a more powerful country for 0 reasons...it's exactly the same reason Paksitan makes claims about kashmir IWT and blames India for Baloch and Khyber but doesn't do anything
Absolutely...but here the hyena isn't India . There are two hyenas ...and they don't take on the lion even when the opportunity presents itselfI won't write an essay in response....but a hyena can never fight the bigger beast alone. Simple !
Lol yeah we all get to know about who was Hyena in 1948, 1962, 2019, 2025.... Who rush towards ceasefireAbsolutely...but here the hyena isn't India . There are two hyenas ...and they don't take on the lion even when the opportunity presents itself
Lol yeah we all get to know about who was Hyena in 1948, 1962, 2019, 2025.... Who rush towards ceasefire

62 ..ok..48 19 25...,Lol yeah we all get to know about who was Hyena in 1948, 1962, 2019, 2025.... Who rush towards ceasefire
Lol go check the archives who went begging for UN intervention in 4862 ..ok..48 19 25...,
48 once India entered the fight...Pak forces got pushed back from Srinagar...it was one way fight . Go look at history...the initial fight or whatever Pak won was when they attacked Kashmir that was not part of India.
19 - India entered and hit terrorists all the while paf was on full alert..India crossed the border. Next day you guys couldn't even hit the target and lost a f16 and downed a mig21 which was one gen older.
25- I think we all know what actually happened
So chine isn't a hyena..it's tiger who don't want to fight with a hyena to take on the lion and the hyena is meant to be kicked and abused whenever it dates to do terrorism
Pls share the document...I would be happy to read itLol go check the archives who went begging for UN intervention in 48
What is even more funny is Pak opted for ceasefire in 4 hours.It was funny how India opted for a ceasefire within 4 days.![]()
Actually us fears them most .hence the restrictions on free trade...rest of the world will actually benefit from a duo poly which will eventually result in multipolar worldExcept US everyone fears them and rightly so, they are the future and a economic powerhouse , look at the might German corporations shaking in their boots, demanding them to be banned lol
India was the first nation to take the Kashmir issue to the United Nations.Pls share the document...I would be happy to read it
But per wikipedia...once India entered the war . It was one way traffic..pakw as defeated in almost all the battles and Indja rushed in more troops.
Per wiki..Indian losses were 1300 dead and 3000 injured where Pak losses were 6000 dead and 14000 injured. India gained most of the territory..two third to be exact
Many observers called it stalemate while others called it a military victory for India and India gained majority of the territory.
Wiki said UN mediated the link ...and while we are at it did you hear what Trump said...after losing. 10 jets and getting the airbases hit .Pak pm said 35 million lives would be lost if the war continues and begged for Trump to save Pakistan....no wonder he agreed to be chowkidar of Israel and stand up sit down to trump...now this is a fact ...only one country is thanking trump to save their hide in 25...perfect hyena behavior .. eat the left overs and beg for food

Yes that's called diplomacy...to get in to declare an invasion illegal and ask for pulling back is not called begging for ceasefire...same thing happens with Ukraine war or the Israel war...it gives legitimacy or illegitimacy. Check the war account .before accession Pak forces were near srinagar .once India entered the war . They were pushed back until ceasefire happened. So the battle field facts are there and undisputed. Casualties ..exact numbers are unknown but if one team is losing the battles it's kind of obvious who is getting killed more.India was the first nation to take the Kashmir issue to the United Nations.
On January 1, 1948, India lodged a formal complaint with the UN Security Council under Article 35 of the UN Charter. India’s primary objective was to request that the UN intervene to stop the "tribal invasion" (which India alleged was backed by Pakistan) into the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which had officially acceded to India in October 1947.
As per your Sri gork clan
View attachment 162114
And by the way, all the casualties account was based on an Indian general's book...so as reliable as your media
O leave this stuff...we can go in circles on this stuff.Yes that's called diplomacy...to get in to declare an invasion illegal and ask for pulling back is not called begging for ceasefire...same thing happens with Ukraine war or the Israel war...it gives legitimacy or illegitimacy. Check the war account .before accession Pak forces were near srinagar .once India entered the war . They were pushed back until ceasefire happened. So the battle field facts are there and undisputed. Casualties ..exact numbers are unknown but if one team is losing the battles it's kind of obvious who is getting killed more.
US doesn’t fear them..they are just a bully.. that’s a difference.. they might be insecure but they aren’t afraid.. that’s why Pelosi flew to TaiwanActually us fears them most .hence the restrictions on free trade...rest of the world will actually benefit from a duo poly which will eventually result in multipolar world
Us China India Russia and Europe...
I have argued this with him and his other friend, NO Answers! IF Indians are this big and bad, take away the Kashmir smoking cigars...why have they not? A much tinier Pak is defending itself is equal to handing a beatingO leave this stuff...we can go in circles on this stuff.
Main question, why don't you claim back part of Kashmir from China and Pakistan....Or atleast Pakistan if you are really lioon as per Modi g dialect
Not militarily..although us can't defend Taiwan but in a full scale war it is not gonna be a contest but in terms of technology and economy..China is clearly winning...as shown in the trade war..the last roll of dice is semiconductor embargo to stifle AI...but China now controls and is winning ev solar power grid energy more allies ..less wars ...complete control of manufacturing and reduced brain drain...the stupid policies like tarrifs fighting with allies and giving up on ev or solar etc has sealed the deal.US doesn’t fear them..they are just a bully.. that’s a difference.. they might be insecure but they aren’t afraid.. that’s why Pelosi flew to Taiwan
China will obviously win in a long term, look at the leaders of both the countries one is a bozo another hell bent on making China progress at all cost.Not militarily..although us can't defend Taiwan but in a full scale war it is not gonna be a contest but in terms of technology and economy..China is clearly winning...as shown in the trade war..the last roll of dice is semiconductor embargo to stifle AI...but China now controls and is winning ev solar power grid energy more allies ..less wars ...complete control of manufacturing and reduced brain drain...the stupid policies like tarrifs fighting with allies and giving up on ev or solar etc has sealed the deal.
Exactly...it's over ..it's just a matter of when and not ifChina will obviously win in a long term, look at the leaders of both the countries one is a bozo another hell bent on making China progress at all cost.
That is a given, world might have been able to stop Germans after WW2, but Chinese have too many people with high IQ and ambition , not to forget Chinese understood what west has done in past(Opium war), so they didn’t let West interfere in any tech that could influence or addict the Chinese population.Exactly...it's over ..it's just a matter of when and not if

what are you on about you imbecile, your not even on topic you clown....Dunno about China but pak PPs are really afraid of Indian replies in the Afghan pak thread..so much so that they are stopping us from replying...the tuccha uneducated quam ka comedy Twitter and YouTube channels have gone over drive to hide the humiliation their army is receiving...making wild claims of killing the Taliban president...Kal subhe hote hi inka asliyaat aajayega..these jokers can claim 10 jets down and there will be no proof so open sesame but when they say the killed the Taliban leader...these channels will be exposed as the grade a frauds that they are.
Dunno about China but pak PPs are really afraid of Indian replies in the Afghan pak thread..so much so that they are stopping us from replying...the tuccha uneducated quam ka comedy Twitter and YouTube channels have gone over drive to hide the humiliation their army is receiving...making wild claims of killing the Taliban president...Kal subhe hote hi inka asliyaat aajayega..these jokers can claim 10 jets down and there will be no proof so open sesame but when they say the killed the Taliban leader...these channels will be exposed as the grade a frauds that they are.