Building Supply Chain Resilience in India’s Pharmaceutical Industry: API Import Dependence and the Production Linked Incentive Response

India is a leading global supplier of generic medicines, yet its pharmaceutical industry depends heavily on imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), key starting materials and drug intermediates, most of them from China. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed this vulnerability: prices of essential APIs rose sharply in early 2020, and India restricted exports of 26 APIs and formulations. This paper uses a qualitative case study design to examine how this vulnerability arose, how it was revealed by the pandemic, and how Indian policy has responded. Drawing on official trade data, parliamentary replies, government reports and the supply chain resilience literature, the study analyses the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for bulk drugs, the PLI scheme for pharmaceuticals and the Bulk Drug Parks scheme. The analysis shows that China accounted for roughly two-thirds of India’s bulk drug and intermediate imports by value between 2019–20 and 2022–23. The policy response has created new domestic capacity, and by early 2026 the government reported import substitution of about Rs 2,190 crore under the bulk drug scheme, which remains modest relative to total imports. The paper proposes a Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Resilience Framework and draws implications for managers and policymakers.