Pharma supply chain heavily dependent on Chinese imports

NITI Aayog 

India's pharmaceutical supply chain remains heavily dependent on Chinese imports, relying on them for 65% of critical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), key starting materials (KSMs), and intermediates, particularly fermentation-based products, NITI Aayog said on Tuesday.  

The Aayog, in the eighth edition of its Trade Watch Quarterly report, further stated that rising environmental compliance requirements have significantly increased manufacturing and research and development costs in India. 

The report pointed out that a weak innovation and commercialisation ecosystem has created uncertainty for innovators and long-term investments. 

To counter these vulnerabilities, the think tank pitched for promoting diversification into high-value pharmaceutical segments.  

Services exports narrow gap with goods trade 

India's trade grew at a healthy 5.4% in Q4FY26 despite a slowdown in merchandise exports on strong growth in services exports and widening services trade surplus.  According to the report, India's 

merchandise trade showed mixed trends, with exports declining 2.8% to $112.03 billion, while imports surged 12% to $195 billion. -Agencies

‘India needs to diversify its sources of energy needs’

The West Asia conflict was a short-term supply chain problem, but it has taught that countries like India should diversify the sources of their energy needs, NITI Aayog vice chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri said on Tuesday. 

 Lahiri further said he is hopeful that soon India and the US will finalise and sign a bilateral trade agreement. "So, it is like you have fever, but if it is influenza, you will not be very worried, you know. "In three days it will get all right, but if you hear that it's typhoid or jaundice, you will be very worried. So, the West Asia crisis has turned out to be influenza," Lahiri said.