- Russia has openly advocated for increasing Indian pharmaceutical imports in its country
- Russians have been heavily dependent on western companies which are now leaving the country
- India has already proven its pharma expertise during covid, now it’s time for Russia to realise it
The Russia-Ukraine crisis has opened a floodgate of problems to be solved. One of these problems is the problem of providing medicines to an average Russian. The western pharmaceutical companies are childishly cancelling Russia, which has opened up doors for Indian pharmaceuticals.
Russia invites Indian pharma
Russia is ready to welcome Indian pharmaceutical companies with open arms. None other than Denis Alipov, the Russian ambassador to India has confirmed this. Denis appealed to Indian companies to take over the place vacated by western pharma oligarchs in the country.
Talking to Rossiya 24 broadcaster, Alipov laid down the invitation in the following words, “The withdrawal of many Western companies from the Russian market and those niches that have been vacated may actually be occupied by Indian companies in many industries, in particular, in pharmaceuticals,”
Russian envoy appreciated the Indian medicine sector by calling Indian generic drugs as not inferior to the original. He termed India as “world pharmacy”.
Read more: India-Russia trade will continue normally despite Indian media’s attempt to fool Indians
Dennis has a point
Unlike western diplomats, Dennis’ statement did not come in a vacuum. Apparently, India and Russia have a lot of potential to collaborate in the pharmaceuticals sectors. Up until now, like most of the other products, pharma trade is also underutilised by both countries.
Read more: Dear Shashi Tharoor, notice carefully – India has already taken a side in the Russia-Ukraine war
Indian pharmaceutical export has been on the boom for the last 5-6 years. When PM Modi took guard as Pradhansevak, India exported only over $14.6 billion worth of pharmaceuticals to other countries. Riding on the back of policies like Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India, we exported pharmaceuticals worth $24.44 in 2021. This was remarkably 18.7 per cent over the previous year’s export figures of $20.7 billion.
Pharma companies missed the mark
However, Indian pharmaceutical companies could not fully capitalise on opportunities to expand their export base in Russia. While Indian medicines were in high demand, our ties with the Soviets were also burgeoning in the wake of India dissociating itself from China. Despite so much conducive environment, Indian pharma exports to Russia increased only by 6.95 per cent to register a figure of $591 million. Simply put, Russia comprises less than 1 % of Indian pharmaceutical exports, which is an abysmally low figure, considering the fact that India and Russia have been time tested allies.
On the other hand, Ukrainians got 44 per cent more Indian medicines than the previous year. Similarly, Uzbekistan, another former Soviet nation registered 125 per cent growth over its previous year’s pharma imports from India.
Western companies ditching Russia
Currently, western countries are uniquely placed when it comes to the pharma business. On the one hand, North America and Europe are one of the biggest beneficiaries of Indian pharma exports, while on the other hand pharma companies from both these regions have historically been invested in Russia. It should be investigated whether big pharma companies buy cheap medicines from India and sell it at a higher price to Russia (and other countries) with changed names.
Meanwhile, in the wake of sanctions, these companies are on their way to ditch Russia. Companies like Pfizer, Bayer, BioNTech, Eli Lilly, Merck are either ending or reducing their business in the Putin-led country.
Big opportunity for Indian pharma giants
The vacated space provides a wonderful opportunity for India. With annual pharma export to Russia hovering below 1 per cent, the sky is the limit for our industry. Even if the situation improves, Russians would be reluctant to buy medicines from the aforementioned companies, simply because they did not support Russia during crucial times. Moreover, the low price of Indian medicines will only lead to an increase in demand in the Russian market, if advertised carefully.
Read more: American sanctions on Russia is an opportunity for India to reduce its dependency on OPEC
Through its humanitarian assistance of medicine and vaccines during Corona, India emerged as an agony aunt of the world. Now, it’s time for Russian Federation to gain from our pharma exports.