New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS): Exports of pharmaceutical and meditech sectors in India are expected to continue to grow despite global slowdown concerns, according to Arunish Chawla, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals.

With 16 blockbuster drugs in the pipeline -- for cancer, diabetes, HIV and tuberculosis, the exports in these sectors have become the fourth-largest in the country in the last fiscal.

Amid global slowdown concerns, the sector is experiencing double-digit growth, supported by government efforts and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, the Secretary told reporters at the CII Pharma and Life Sciences summit.

The 16 drugs to be produced in India are part of a larger list of 25 molecules which are going off-patent in the next few years.

Chawla said that exports of the Indian pharmaceuticals, biotech, and bulk drug exports have grown by double-digit in 2023. Further, he noted that India became export-oriented in the consumables and surgical industry, last year. This year the country is becoming a "rising power" in imaging devices, body implants, and in-vitro diagnostics.

Chawla said the government has conducted "studies and applied research to identify blockbuster molecules and blockbuster drugs in the traditional pharma space and in the new rising biotech and biosimilar space".

He further said that the 16 drugs in the pipeline are in various stages of “approvals and manufacturing licences”. The Secretary stated that the Indian companies developing these drugs "are taking help from the PLI scheme".

The incentives provided will help in the development of research, clinical trials and approvals for these blockbuster molecules. Chawla also noted that the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has already granted approvals to some of the molecules.