India Must Evolve from ‘Pharmacy of the World’ to ‘Laboratory of the World’, Says Union Minister Anupriya Patel

AI adoption must be safe, responsible and human-centred, with strong safeguards for patient privacy and technology complementing

India should move beyond being the “Pharmacy of the World” and become “Laboratory of the World”, driven by research, innovation, and emerging technologies, Union Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers Anupriya Patel said recently during an event.

Referring to India's response during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, “The Indian pharmaceutical industry ensured uninterrupted supplies of vaccines and essential medical products to more than 200 countries, while the country's vaccination programme administered over 2.2 billion doses.”

Speaking about the transformational power of AI, the Minister said, “AI has the potential to accelerate drug discovery, enable personalised treatments and strengthen healthcare delivery through improved screening, clinical decision-making and disease surveillance. “

At the same time, the Union Minister stressed that AI adoption must be safe, responsible and human-centred, with strong safeguards for patient privacy and technology complementing, rather than replacing, human clinical judgement.

She called for greater collaboration among the government, academia, healthcare institutions, startups and industry to move from pilot projects to population-level implementation.

She also highlighted that the Centres of Excellence for AI in healthcare have been established at AIIMS New Delhi, PGIMER Chandigarh and AIIMS Rishikesh.

Further, the Minister also highlighted the government’s 5,000 crore rupees Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma-MedTech Sector (PRIP) scheme, aimed at strengthening research and industry-academia collaboration and supporting India’s transition towards innovation-led growth.

Outlining the government initiatives to strengthen India's research and innovation ecosystem, the Union Minister said, “The Government’s INR 5,000 crore Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma-MedTech Sector (PRIP) Scheme aims at strengthening research and industry-academia collaboration and supports the transition towards innovation-led growth.”

She further highlighted that the INR 10,000 crore Biopharma SHAKTI mission, announced during the Union Budget, is intended to strengthen capabilities in biologics and biosimilars, develop skilled manpower, and strengthen regulatory and clinical trial capabilities to support the domestic biopharmaceutical ecosystem.

Furthermore, Punya Salila Srivastava, Secretary, Department of Health & Family Welfare, highlighted the government’s efforts to strengthen India’s digital health ecosystem and promote the responsible, evidence-based adoption of AI in healthcare.

She said, “Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is creating an interoperable, open-standards-based digital health ecosystem, with over 96 crore ABHA IDs and more than 1,000 crore health records digitally linked across healthcare facilities and professionals”

Srivastava also highlighted AI applications for early detection of tuberculosis and diabetic retinopathy, as well as AI-enabled clinical decision support through eSanjeevani, which has benefited more than 20 crore patients, while underscoring responsible AI, data privacy, and greater collaboration, citing the IndiaAI Mission and AIKosh as key enablers.

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