Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday proposed a Rs 10,000 crore allocation over the next five years to boost India’s biopharma sector under a new initiative called the Bio Pharma Shakti programme. The programme aims to develop an integrated ecosystem for biopharma and biosimilars, she said while presenting the Union Budget in Parliament.
The move would give a boost to India’s pharmaceuticals industry and is aimed at debeloping India as a global Biopharma manufacturing hub. In addition to the biopharma initiative, Sitharaman proposed scaling up manufacturing in strategic and frontier sectors and developing city economic regions to support broader economic growth.
Biopharmaceuticals, or biologics, are complex medicines manufactured from living organisms, cells, or tissues rather than through chemical synthesis.
The scheme will build an ecosystem for domestic production of biologics and biosimilars. It will include a Biopharma focused network with three new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research and upgrading seven existing ones. The scheme will also help create a network of over 1,000 accredited India Clinal Trials sites.
Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says, “Scaling up manufacturing in seven strategic and frontier sectors: Biopharma Shakti, meaning a biopharma strategy for health advancement through knowledge, technology, and innovation. India’s disease burden is observed to be… pic.twitter.com/ZogL8Mo0kG
— IANS (@ians_india) February 1, 2026
In her opening remarks, the Finance Minister highlighted the government’s record since assuming office. “Since we assumed office 12 years ago, India’s economic trajectory has been marked by stability, fiscal discipline, sustained growth and moderate inflation,” she said.
Sitharaman emphasised that the government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has chosen “action over ambivalence, and reform over rhetoric,” with Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) as a guiding principle. She added that India will continue to balance ambition with inclusion in the years ahead.
This marks Finance Minister Sitharaman’s ninth consecutive Union Budget presentation in Parliament, underscoring her continuing role in shaping India’s fiscal and economic policy.
