Centre Reopens PLI Scheme Applications for 11 Pharma Products to Boost Domestic Manufacturing

Under the Government of India, the Department of Pharmaceuticals has invited new applications from pharmaceutical companies for the incentive (PLI) scheme related to its production. The objective of this initiative is to support the installation of new manufacturing capabilities for 11 important drug products. 

Eligible products include antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs such as neomycin, gentamycin, erythromycin, streptomycin, tetracycline, Ciprofloxacin and diclofenac sodium. According to the recent notification of the department, these products are unusable or partially membership from the earlier application rounds. Interested manufacturers will have to submit their applications by 14 June 

Applicants should follow specific guidelines, including allocation of allocation based on available capabilities, an incentive roof per product, and only an defined production period implemented incentives applied up to an incentive- esophagus-synthesis products and FY29 for fermentation-based products. Companies that were previously approved, but their approval was withdrawn or canceled, they are unfit to apply again. 

The Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (PHARMEXCIL) has encouraged its members to seize the opportunity. Raja Bhanu, Director General of Pharmacal, emphasized that this step would help companies strengthen their manufacturing of necessary pharmaceutical materials. 

This PLI scheme is part of a comprehensive government’s push to increase domestic production of major early materials (KSM), drug intermediate (DIS), and active pharmaceutical material (API). Launched in 2020 and amended later that year, the scheme includes 41 products and includes a financial outlay of ₹ 6,940 crore. 

Overall, PLI initiative for 14 major areas including pharmaceuticals, wholesale drugs and medical devices has seen strong uptake. By March 2025, the government has approved 764 applications, with an investment of 1.61 lakh crores (about 18.72 billion $ 18.72 billion), already incentives already encouraged in areas such as IT Hardware, Telecom, Electronics, Food Processing and Healthcare with 14,020 crores. 

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