The increasing population of higher-income group in the country will open a potential $ 8 billion market for multi-national companies selling costly patented drugs by 2015, a FICCI-Ernst & Young study said.
Besides, the report says the domestic pharmaceutical market is expected to
touch $ 20 billion by 2015 from $ 7.1 billion in 2007, making India a lucrative destination for clinical trials for global giants.
Patent-protected products, the report said, have the potential to capture up to 8-10 per cent share of the total market by 2015, implying a market size of $ 2 billion.
"The patent infrastructure in the country has been appreciably upgraded over the past few years to support new laws with the addition of patent examiners, de centralisation of the filing process and digitisation of records," it said.
The population in the highest income class is expected to grow to 25 million in 2015 from 10 million today, which will drive the affordability of high value patented drugs, it said.
MNCs, already present, are further consolidating their presence in India, while new entrants are increasing.
"MNCs are increasingly restructuring their operations with global parents increasing their equity stakes in their Indian affiliates," it said.