Indian pharmaceuticals market led by Ranbaxy in terms of revenue

The Indian pharmaceutical market is the world's third-largest in terms of volume and stands 14th in terms of value. The government started to encourage the growth of drug manufacturing by Indian companies in the early 1960s, and with the Patents Act in 1970, notes a new report added to the offering of companiesandmarkets.com.

However, economic liberalization in the 1990s by the former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and the then Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh enabled the industry to become what it is today. This patent act removed composition patents from food and drugs, and, though it kept process patents, these were shortened to a period of five to seven years.

With a population of over one billion and a growing middle class in excess of 300 million people with disposable income and increasing health care expectations, the Indian pharmaceuticals market has enormous potential for growth.