Amount of foreign direct investment proves India’s attraction to Big Pharma despite protestations on IP

Multinational drugmakers might be crying themselves hoarse that India does not protect innovation - that the country has stifling trade and investment policies and that intellectual property rights are routinely given the go by – but with India attracting $9.345 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in pharma between 2000 and 2013, they could not be more wrong, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

With more than $4.5 billion of that total coming into the country in the past three years alone, the pharmaceutical sector has managed to hold its own, amidst all the criticism.

New data set out by the Department Of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) shows that between April to October 2013, foreign direct investment in the pharmaceutical sector jumped by 86.5% to $1.08 billion. FDI in pharmaceuticals was $580 million during April to October 2012.