India should move beyond its identity as the Pharmacy of the World and emerge as the Laboratory of the World, driven by research, innovation and emerging technologies. 

This was stated by the Union Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers Anupriya Patel while ddressing the third edition of the IIMA Healthcare Summit 2026, themed “Advancing AI in Healthcare,” at IIMA, Ahmedabad.

Patel highlighted India's growing role in global healthcare and the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform drug discovery, diagnostics and patient care.

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.

The Minister said AI could accelerate drug discovery, personalised treatment, disease screening, clinical decision-making and disease surveillance. However, she emphasised that AI adoption must remain safe, responsible and human-centred, with appropriate safeguards for patient privacy and human clinical judgement.

She called for a shift from isolated AI pilots to population-level implementation, supported by stronger collaboration among government, academia, healthcare institutions, startups and industry. She also highlighted the establishment of Centres of Excellence for AI in healthcare at AIIMS New Delhi, PGIMER Chandigarh and AIIMS Rishikesh.

Patel also outlined government initiatives aimed at strengthening India's research and innovation ecosystem. "The Rs. 5,000 crore Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma-MedTech Sector (PRIP) Scheme is focused on strengthening research and industry-academia collaboration, while the Rs. 10,000 crore Biopharma SHAKTI missionis intended to strengthen India's capabilities in biologics and biosimilars, develop skilled manpower and enhance regulatory and clinical trial capabilities."

Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, highlighted the increasing adoption of AI across the pharmaceutical sector, noting that large companies are using the technology in areas such as production, human resources, marketing, distribution and inventory management.

He said startups, particularly those based in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, are increasingly using AI for drug discovery to accelerate the identification and shortlisting of potential drug candidates and reduce the time required for development.

Punya Salila Srivastava, Secretary, Department of Health & Family Welfare, highlighted India's efforts to build a digital health ecosystem and promote responsible, evidence-based AI adoption.

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

Pankaj Patel, Chairman, IIMA Board of Governors and Chairman, Zydus Lifesciences, highlighted AI's potential across the healthcare value chain, from drug discovery to patient care. He noted that AI could accelerate identification of drug candidates, support clinical trial design and patient recruitment, and help researchers identify failures at an earlier stage.