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Imports of bulk drugs and intermediates to India has reported a decline of 2.6% in the first half of the fiscal year 2025-26, as compared to a growth of 3.13% reported in the same period of previous fiscal year, on a year-over-year (YoY) basis. During the month of September, the imports grew 1.5%, as against the same month last year.
The imports stood at $2.24 billion during April to September, 2025, as compared to $2.3 billion in the same period of previous fiscal year. Imports during April to September 2024, on the other hand, reported YoY growth compared to $2.23 billion in the corresponding period of FY24, according to data from the ministry of commerce and industry.
During the quarter ended September, 2025, the imports grew 1.8% to $1.15 billion, as compared to $1.13 billion in the same quarter a year ago.
For the month of September, India imported around $352.52 million worth of bulk drugs and intermediates, as compared to $347.3 million during the same month of 2024. The imports during September, 2024 was a growth of almost 7% from $324.85 million registered in the corresponding month of 2023.
In terms of quantity, the first half of the current fiscal reported 2.48% growth at 2,51,818 MT of bulk drugs and intermediates, as compared to 2,45,532 MT imported in the same period of last year.
For the quarter ended September, the quantity grew 3.47% to 1,24,695 MT as compared to 1,20,511 MT during the same period of FY25.
However, during the month of September, 2025, the imports reported a growth of 13.56% at 39,748 MT as against 35,003 MT in the same month of 2024, despite the lower growth of imports in value terms. Almost 72% of the imports, in value terms, has been from China, shows the official data.
In Rupee terms, the imports stood at Rs. 19,335.7 crore during the first half of the fiscal year, registering a less than 1% growth compared to Rs. 19,193.5 crore of April to September, 2024.
During the quarter ended September, the growth was over 6% to Rs. 10,056 crore, as compared to Rs. 9,481.5 crore reported in the same period of last year.
During the month of September, 2025, the growth was almost 7% to Rs. 3,113.6 crore, as against Rs. 2,910.7 crore during the same month a year ago.
As reported earlier, imports of bulk drugs and intermediates to India registered a marginal decline of close to 1% in the month of August, 2025, while the cumulative imports for the first five months of the fiscal year witnessed a decline of 3.6%.
The imports during the month of August stood at $389.87 million, as compared to $393.59 million in the same month of last year.
Import growth for the first five months of the fiscal year reported a decline of 3.6% to $1.88 billion, as compared to $1.95 billion imports during the same period of previous fiscal year.
Imports reported a growth of 5% in July, 2025, while it was on a trend of decline consecutively for the first three months of the fiscal year, reporting a 2.32% decline in April, 6.3% in May, and 12.36%in the month of June, according to data from the ministry of commerce and industry.
As reported earlier, the first quarter of FY26, from April to June, 2025, reported a decline of 6.9% in bulk drug imports at $1.08 billion, as compared to $1.16 billion in the same period of previous fiscal year.
The Central government has been emphasising on reducing the imports of essential pharmaceutical raw materials such as bulk drugs, drug intermediates and key starting materials, among others, and has initiated various incentive schemes to support domestic production of these materials.
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