APIs Imports from China

Posted On: 10 MAR 2026 1:31PM by PIB Delhi The list of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) for which imports from China accounted for 70 percent or more of India’s total imports in FY2023-24 and FY2024-25, along with the corresponding import values is placed at Annexure-I. The domestic demand for high-dependence APIs is dynamic and driven by the requirements of the formulation industry for both domestic consumption and exports. Installed capacity for these APIs is primarily within the private sector. Since 2020, through various policy interventions such as the Scheme for Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes, the Government has facilitated the creation of an ecosystem for domestic manufacturing. Under the PLI Scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical Key Starting Materials (KSMs) /Drug Intermediates (DIs) and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in India (commonly known as &ldquo;PLI Scheme for Bulk Drugs’), domestic manufacturing capacity of approximately 56,800 MT per annum has been established for 28 out of 41 identified critical products. The list of these 28 products is placed at Annexure-II. As of December 2025, 38 greenfield projects covering 28 notified products have been commissioned under the Scheme. Out of 41 products notified under PLI Scheme for Bulk Drugs, 33 products have been subscribed. A total of 48 greenfield projects has been approved under the Scheme, covering these 33 notified products, with an aggregate committed investment of ₹4,329.95 crore. Against this commitment, actual investment of ₹4,814.1 crore has already been achieved. As of December 2025, 38 projects (out of 48 approved projects) covering 28 products (out of 33 subscribed products) have been commissioned, resulting in establishment of domestic manufacturing capacity of approximately 56,800 MT per annum for identified critical products. The scheme has resulted in cumulative sales of ₹2,720 crore reported till December 2025, including exports of ₹527.96 crore, thereby avoiding imports worth ₹2,192.04 crore. The Scheme has also generated employment for 4,896 employment persons till December, 2025 As of December 2025, a total incentive of ₹54.81 crore has been disbursed to the eligible applicants. Annexure-I HS CODE DESCRIPTION Import from China FY2023-24 Value (in USD Mn) China Dependence (in %) FY2023-24 Import from China FY2024-25 Value (in USD Mn) China Dependence (in %) FY2024-25 29419013 RIFA OR RIFA S SODIUM (RIFAINT) 8.37 100.00 15.44 100.00 29214236 METHYL DOPA (L-ALPHA METHYL-3, 4-DIHYDROXYPHENYLA 13.75 100.00 12.16 100.00 29420026 CYSTEANUNE HCL 2.49 100.00 2.85 100.00 29359014 SULPHADIMIDINE 1.76 100.00 1.44 100.00 29359024 SULPHAMIDE 1.15 100.00 0.83 100.00 29419060 NORFLOXACIN AND ITS SALTS 3.60 99.99 12.31 99.90 29124940 3,4,5-TRIMETHOXY-BENZALDEHYEDE 1.09 100.00 0.40 99.88 29412010 STREPTOMYCINS 2.18 99.91 4.64 99.86 29419040 GENTAMYCIN AND ITS SALTS 8.04 99.86 8.51 99.72 29413020 TETRACYCLINE/OXYTETRA - CYCLINE AND HR SALTS 10.75 99.84 11.40 99.65 29420016 D (-) PARA HYDROXY DANES SALTS 21.02 99.91 27.20 99.54 29242910 ACETANILIDE 12.26 99.85 13.38 99.47 29420011 CEFADROXIL 1.08 99.21 1.69 99.05 29171970 ETH0XY METHYLENE MAL0NATE, DIETHYL MAL0NATE 19.77 99.93 19.34 98.13 29420015 DANES SALT OF D (-) PHENYL GLYCINE 18.07 98.06 19.03 100.00 29335200 MALONYLUREA (BARBITURIC ACID) AND ITS SALS 5.36 98.00 4.58 100.00 29419050 NEOMYCIN 3.69 99.67 2.48 97.48 29224910 AMINO ACETIC ACID (GLYCINE) 13.83 97.66 25.49 99.25 29419030 CIPROFLOXACINE AND ITS SALTS 8.16 97.98 9.33 98.02 29262000 1-CYANOGUANIDINE(DICYANDIAMIDE) 76.58 97.95 70.45 97.94 29414000 CHLORAMPHENICOL AND ITS DERIVATIVES SALTS THEREOF 3.08 97.81 2.42 96.99 29379019 OTHER 4.68 97.33 5.71 95.16 29372100 CORTISONE, HYDROCORTISONE, PREDNISONE (DEHY-DROCORTISONE) AND F 41.12 96.48 37.67 95.41 29182110 SALICYLIC ACID 23.88 95.22 24.54 96.16 29415000 ERTHROMYCIN AND ITS DERIVATIVES SALTS THEREOF 153.75 93.04 166.31 97.65 29411050 6 &ndash; APA 396.51 94.08 407.64 95.92 29333100 PYRIDINE AND ITS SALTS 29.13 93.64 22.89 94.95 29362610 VITAMIN B12 (CYNOCOBALAMIN) 31.32 92.62 25.33 93.82 29332920 METRONIDAZOLE METRONIDIAZOLE BENZOATE 8.14 94.46 10.04 91.73 29362290 OTHER VITAMIN B1I AND ITS DRIVATIVES 3.03 95.47 3.08 88.85 29420032 CIMETIDINE 0.85 98.49 0.55 84.48 29420012 IBUPROFANE 10.48 99.34 6.43 80.73 29411030 AMOXYCILLINE AND ITS SALTS 42.22 90.00 37.96 88.29 29419011 RIFAMPICIN 8.14 89.17 39.61 89.01 29419090 OTHER ANTIBIOTICS 730.01 88.39 694.26 88.15 29411020 AMPICILLINE AND ITS SALTS 0.71 78.41 0.38 97.33 29224100 LYSINE AND ITS ESTERS SALTS THEREOF 93.40 85.32 120.82 89.13 29333916 BETA PIC0LINE (3-METHYL PYRIDINE) 10.86 82.71 13.85 90.61 29362700 VITAMIN C (ASCORBIC ACID) AND ITS DERIVATIVES 21.48 82.45 22.35 87.76 29411010 PENICILLINS AND ITS SALTS 192.15 77.03 215.51 92.87 29362210 VITAMIN B1I (THIAMINE, ANEURINE) AND ITS SALT 10.18 85.32 15.59 81.77 29332990 OTHER COMPNDS CNTNG AN UNFUSED IMIDAZOLE RING (W/N HYDROGENATED 64.00 81.69 66.36 82.33 29331999 OTHER 223.72 76.14 139.67 79.63 29420090 OTHER DILOXANIDE FUROATE, CIMETIDINE, FAMOTIDINE NES 250.40 75.29 262.11 78.96 29362500 VITAMIN B6 AND ITS DERIVATIVES 7.69 63.50 12.83 88.28 29333918 LUTIDINE (DIMETHYLE PYRIDINE) 0.03 50.00 2.98 100.00 29183030 NALIDIXIC ACID 0.05 50.00 <spa