India's Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Hubs: Where the Factories Actually Are

India has 118 pharmaceutical clusters spread across the country, housing roughly 7,673 pharma industries. But if you've ever tried to figure out where the real action is -- which states actually produce the drugs, which industrial estates matter, and where new capacity is going up -- you've probably hit a wall of vague government brochures and outdated reports.

Here's the ground-level picture, state by state.

Gujarat: The Undisputed Manufacturing Capital

Gujarat accounts for about 33% of India's total drug manufacturing output and 28% of pharmaceutical exports. The state has roughly 3,500 drug manufacturing units, and 130 of them carry USFDA certification. No other state comes close on that last number.

The concentration of large-cap pharma companies here is staggering. Sun Pharma, Zydus Lifesciences, Torrent Pharma, Cadila Healthcare, and Intas Pharmaceuticals all have their headquarters and major manufacturing operations in the Ahmedabad-Vadodara belt. The annual turnover from Gujarat's pharma hubs hit roughly Rs 1.42 lakh crore as of March 2023.

Key Industrial Estates

The four GIDC (Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation) estates that matter most are:

• Vatva -- on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. The oldest and most densely packed pharma cluster in the state. Mostly formulation units.
• Ankleshwar -- in Bharuch district. Heavy on chemical intermediates and APIs. This is where a lot of the upstream chemistry happens.
• Panoli -- adjacent to Ankleshwar. Similar profile, but with more dedicated pharma-chemical operations.
• Vapi -- in the southernmost tip of Gujarat, near the Maharashtra border. Mixed chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Gujarat's port infrastructure is a major reason companies cluster here. Mundra port (operated by Adani Ports) and the older Kandla port handle a massive share of pharma exports. If you're manufacturing for export, proximity to these ports shaves days off your logistics timeline.

The Jambusar Bulk Drug Park

The big upcoming project is the Jambusar Bulk Drug Park in Bharuch district. This is one of three bulk drug parks sanctioned under the central government's scheme to reduce API dependence on China. The numbers: 2,015 acres, Rs 3,920 crore in planned investment, with common infrastructure including effluent treatment plants, solvent recovery, and shared utilities.

If you're an API manufacturer looking for greenfield capacity, Jambusar is likely on your radar already. You can search for Gujarat-based GMP manufacturers here.

Himachal Pradesh: The Tax Incentive Story

The Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) belt in Solan district is one of the most written-about pharma clusters in India, and the story is really a story about tax policy.

In 2003, the central government announced an industrial package for Himachal Pradesh that included 100% excise duty exemption for new manufacturing units. Pharma companies -- which are high-value, low-weight manufacturers -- were the perfect fit. The tax savings were enormous. Within a few years, hundreds of units set up shop in a narrow corridor along the Chandigarh-Shimla highway.

At its peak, the BBN belt had over 700 pharma units. That number has come down to around 600 as the excise exemptions wound down (GST replaced excise in 2017, and the compensating SGST reimbursement scheme has been less generous). But the belt still generates an annual turnover of roughly Rs 40,000-50,000 crore, and some estimates put it higher.

The companies that set up here read like a who's who: Cipla, Dr. Reddy's, Mankind Pharma, Glenmark, and dozens of mid-tier formulation players. Most of the BBN units do formulation -- tablets, capsules, syrups -- rather than API manufacturing.

What's Next: Una Bulk Drug Park

The second of the three central government-funded bulk drug parks is coming up in Una district, Himachal Pradesh. This is expected to go operational around 2026. The idea is to bring API manufacturing into a state that has been overwhelmingly focused on formulations. Whether the cold climate and mountainous terrain work for bulk drug manufacturing remains to be seen -- effluent management and chemical logistics in hilly terrain are not trivial.

Maharashtra: The Oldest Pharma State

Maharashtra has a claim that often gets overlooked: 40 out of India's 118 national pharmaceutical clusters -- 34% -- are in this one state. The state has roughly 39,116 registered pharma companies, though many of these are traders and distributors rather than manufacturers.

Western India overall accounts for 40.5% of the API market. Mumbai's role is less about factories and more about headquarters, regulatory affairs offices, and the financial infrastructure that makes pharma deals happen.

The Manufacturing Locations

• Tarapur MIDC (Palghar district) -- one of the largest MIDC estates in Asia. Chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing side by side. The CETP (common effluent treatment plant) here handles massive volumes.
• Lote Parshuram (Ratnagiri district) -- a dedicated chemical zone on the Konkan coast. API intermediates and bulk actives. Not easy to get to, but that's partly the point -- it keeps heavy chemical manufacturing away from population centers.
• Aurangabad -- the Waluj and Chikalthana industrial areas have about 79 pharma units. Wockhardt and Lupin have significant operations here.
• Nashik -- growing cluster with both formulation and API units.

And then there's Pune, home to the Serum Institute of India -- the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume. Serum Institute's Manjri facility alone has capacity to produce over 1.5 billion vaccine doses per year.

For exports, JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust) in Navi Mumbai is the primary gateway. It's India's largest container port, and pharma companies in western India have built their entire supply chain around its proximity.

Looking for manufacturers in Maharashtra? Search the directory here.

Hyderabad and Telangana: Bulk Drugs and Vaccines

Hyderabad's pharma numbers are eye-popping. The city and its surrounding areas produce roughly 40% of India's bulk drugs and 65% of its vaccines. This isn't a recent development -- Hyderabad has been a pharma manufacturing center since the 1980s, when companies like Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Aurobindo Pharma started scaling up.

Genome Valley

Genome Valley is a 2,000-acre life sciences cluster in the northern outskirts of Hyderabad (Shamirpet area). It houses over 200 companies, including global names like Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, and Lonza alongside Indian firms. It's India's first dedicated life sciences cluster, and it's still growing -- in early 2025, Bharat Biotech launched a $75 million cell and gene therapy facility here.

Pharma City at Mucherla: The Mega-Project

Then there's Hyderabad Pharma City at Mucherla, about 50 km south of the city. The scale is hard to overstate: 19,000 acres, making it arguably the world's largest planned pharmaceutical manufacturing zone. The investment potential is pegged at Rs 64,000 crore.

Dr. Reddy's, Aurobindo, Hetero Labs, and Laurus Labs have all committed to setting up operations here. The project includes a dedicated effluent treatment infrastructure, which is critical -- Hyderabad's existing pharma zones have faced serious pollution issues along the Musi River and Patancheru industrial belt.

The question with Mucherla is always timing. Indian mega-projects have a habit of stretching timelines. But the land is acquired, the master plan is in place, and anchor tenants are locked in.

Why Hyderabad Dominates Bulk Drugs

A few reasons. First, the chemistry talent pool -- Osmania University and other local institutions have been producing organic chemists for decades. Second, the ecosystem effect -- when you have 200+ pharma companies in a 50-km radius, you get a thick supplier base for everything from solvents to packaging. Third, the airport. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad has dedicated pharma cargo handling, which matters enormously for temperature-sensitive API shipments.

The Other Major States

Karnataka and Bangalore

Bangalore is India's biotech capital. The state has over 300 pharma and biotech companies, and roughly 50% of India's biotech startups are based here. Biocon, founded by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, is the anchor tenant -- its Bangalore campus is one of the largest integrated biotech facilities in Asia.

But Bangalore is primarily a biotech and research story, not a bulk manufacturing one. The state doesn't have the kind of large-scale chemical manufacturing zones you see in Gujarat or Telangana. Drug discovery, biologics, and biosimilars are where Karnataka punches above its weight.

Goa

Goa is an oddity in the pharma map. It's tiny, but it has 120+ pharma manufacturing units, mostly concentrated in the Verna Industrial Estate. What makes Goa interesting is the tenant list: Sanofi, Abbott, Cipla, and Pfizer all have manufacturing plants here.

Why Goa? Historically, the state offered competitive incentives, the Mormugao port provided export access, and -- frankly -- it's a nice place to station your management team. The workforce challenge in Goa is real though: it's a small state, and pharma competes with tourism for labor.

Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand got the same 2003 tax package that Himachal Pradesh did, and the response was similar -- pharma companies flooded into the Haridwar belt, especially the SIDCUL (State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation) industrial estates at Haridwar IIE (Integrated Industrial Estate) and the area around Roorkee.

There are over 300 pharma units in the state. The focus is almost entirely on formulations. The Haridwar IIE is the largest single cluster.

Sikkim: The Quiet Tax Haven

Sikkim's pharma story is pure tax arbitrage. When the excise exemptions in Himachal Pradesh started winding down, the North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (2007) made Sikkim extremely attractive. The deal: 100% excise duty exemption plus 100% income tax exemption for new units. For a high-margin industry like pharma, this was irresistible.

At least 14 major pharmaceutical companies migrated operations to Sikkim, including Sun Pharma, Cipla, Zydus, Alkem, and Torrent. These are mostly formulation plants -- the state's small size, remote location, and limited chemical infrastructure make API manufacturing impractical.

The interesting wrinkle: with GST replacing excise duty, the original tax advantage has shifted. The state now relies on SGST reimbursement schemes, and the economics aren't quite as lopsided as they once were. But sunk costs are sunk costs -- once you've built a Rs 200 crore plant, you don't walk away easily.

State-by-State Comparison

Infrastructure: The Bottleneck Nobody Talks About Enough

India's logistics cost runs at 13-14% of GDP. In developed countries, it's 8-9%. That difference hits pharma especially hard because you're dealing with temperature-sensitive products, hazardous chemicals, and time-critical shipments.

Three pieces of infrastructure disproportionately shape where pharma manufacturing happens:

Mundra Port (Gujarat) -- India's largest private port. Adani-operated. Handles the majority of Gujarat's pharma exports. Has cold chain facilities for temperature-controlled cargo. The port's efficiency (turnaround times, customs clearance) is measurably better than government-run ports.

JNPT (Maharashtra) -- India's biggest container port. If you're exporting finished dosages in containers, this is your port. Located in Navi Mumbai, well-connected to the Tarapur and Pune manufacturing belts by road and rail.

Hyderabad Airport -- Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has invested in dedicated pharma handling zones. For high-value, time-sensitive API shipments, air freight from Hyderabad is often the only option. The airport's proximity to Genome Valley and the broader pharma belt makes it the default choice for Telangana manufacturers.

The gap between these three and the rest of India's logistics infrastructure is wide. States like Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand can manufacture drugs, but getting them to an international port or airport adds time and cost that partly offsets the tax advantages.

Government Schemes Reshaping the Map

Three central government programs are actively changing where new pharma capacity gets built:

1. PLI for Bulk Drugs

The Production Linked Incentive scheme for bulk drugs approved 48 projects to reduce India's dependence on Chinese APIs. As of late 2024, 34 of those projects have been commissioned and are producing 25 critical bulk drugs. The remaining 14 are under construction and expected to come online by FY 2025-26. Total approved investment exceeds Rs 4,253 crore.

The key APIs being targeted include Paracetamol, Penicillin G, Vitamin B1, and other drugs where India was almost entirely dependent on Chinese imports.

2. PLI for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

A separate, broader PLI scheme worth Rs 15,000 crore covers pharmaceutical manufacturing more generally. This one targets higher-value products -- complex generics, biopharmaceuticals, and patented drugs manufactured under license.

3. Bulk Drug Parks

Three bulk drug parks at Rs 1,000 crore central funding each:

• Jambusar, Gujarat -- 2,015 acres, Rs 3,920 crore total investment planned
• Una, Himachal Pradesh -- expected to go operational around 2026
• Visakhapatnam (Anakapalli), Andhra Pradesh -- the third park, co-located with the state's existing pharma industrial base

The Union Budget 2025-26 allocated Rs 1,400 crore for these parks, signaling that the government is serious about keeping the timeline. The idea is simple: give API manufacturers common infrastructure (effluent treatment, solvent recovery, steam, power) so they can focus on chemistry instead of civil engineering.

What This Means If You're Choosing a Location

If you're setting up a new pharma manufacturing facility in India, your decision matrix probably looks something like this:

For API/bulk drug manufacturing: Gujarat or Telangana. These states have the chemistry ecosystem, the waste treatment infrastructure, and the regulatory familiarity with complex manufacturing. The new bulk drug parks make this even more compelling.

For formulation manufacturing (domestic market): Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, or Sikkim if you can still capture tax benefits. The BBN belt in Himachal is a proven location with established supply chains.

For export-focused formulations: Gujarat (Mundra port) or Maharashtra (JNPT). Port proximity dominates the economics for export-oriented players.

For biotech and biologics: Karnataka. The talent pool, the startup ecosystem, and Biocon's anchoring presence make Bangalore the default choice.

For vaccines: Hyderabad, hands down. 65% of India's vaccine production happens here, and the ecosystem for everything from cell culture media to cold chain logistics is mature.

If you need to find GMP-certified manufacturers in any of these hubs, you can search our directory by state, city, or product type. And if you're evaluating manufacturers for a contract, request quotes from verified facilities to compare pricing and capabilities across regions.

The Bigger Picture

India's pharma geography isn't random. It's the result of three forces pulling in different directions: tax policy (which created Himachal, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim as pharma hubs), historical ecosystem effects (which keep Gujarat and Hyderabad dominant), and infrastructure (which favors coastal states with port access).

The government's current bet -- bulk drug parks, PLI incentives, and revised Schedule M compliance -- is trying to add a fourth force: strategic self-sufficiency. Whether that works depends on execution. India's track record on mega-projects is mixed. But the money is committed, the land is allocated, and the first round of PLI projects is already producing drugs.

The next five years will determine whether India's pharmaceutical map gets redrawn, or whether the existing hubs simply get bigger. Based on what's in the pipeline, the smart money is on both.