What happened (government position at Bharat Health Global Expo 2026)
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, along with Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada and Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal, addressed Bharat Health Global Expo 2026 in New Delhi. The Minister urged India to build resilient and globally integrated healthcare supply chains and to strengthen India’s position as a trusted healthcare partner to the world.
Background and earlier position: resilience after API and KSM setbacks
The Minister said the world is increasingly looking for resilient supply chains and is not comfortable with excessive geographical dependence or supply chains that could be weaponised. He added that India had earlier “lost ground” in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and Key Starting Materials (KSMs) and said India must restore resilience.
What changed now in focus: resilience without inward-looking isolation
Piyush Goyal clarified that resilience should not mean an inward-looking approach. He said imports would continue to be necessary, but availability should come from multiple geographies and multiple companies, so that industry continuity is not “held to ransom.” He also pointed to a demand-pooling approach: pooling India’s demand to identify products currently imported where there is potential for indigenous production.