India Emerged as a Global Leader in Key Sectors in 2024

02 Jan 2025

The year 2024 marked as defining year year for India, showcasing its leadership across key sectors such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, defence, nuclear energy, space exploration, infrastructure, and cutting-edge technologies like quantum computing, AI, and blockchain.

Transformative policies and transformative changes have propelled India to a prominent global position, underlining its commitment to sustainable and inclusive development. India’s pharmaceutical exports soared from $15 billion to $28 billion in the decade ending FY24, driven by initiatives such as production-linked incentives (PLI) and bulk drug parks.

Biotechnology has expanded 13 times over, rising from $10 billion in 2014 to $130 billion in 2024, with an ambitious goal of reaching $300 billion by 2030. Key breakthroughs in 2024 include India's first homegrown antibiotic, Nafithromycin, providing a groundbreaking treatment for drug-resistant pneumonia, and NexCAR19, the country's inaugural indigenous CAR-T cell therapy for cancer.

Restarting Penicillin G production after 30 years strengthened India's pharmaceutical self-reliance. On the global stage, India became a member of the Biopharmaceutical Alliance with South Korea, the US, Japan, and the EU to address drug supply issues. Transformative reforms, such as liberalized FDI, the introduction of Positive Indigenization Lists, and the opening of defence R&D to start-ups, propelled indigenous production to a record Rs 1.27 lakh crore in 2024, while exports surged by 30 times.