In India, the Over The Counter (OTC) drug market is expected to grow at USD 6.6 billion by 2016 increasing their presence in the rural market with pharma companies and chemists.

According to a sectoral document for the pharmaceuticals industry under the ‘Make In India’ campaingn, OTC drug market in India stood at USD 3 billion in 2011 and it is expected to rise to USD 6.6 billion forecast by 2016

Pharma companies have started tapping rural market and developed better infrastructure by increasing their spending. The market share of hospitals is expected to increase from 13.1 per cent in 2009 to 26 per cent in 2020, it added.

As per the documents, with increasing penetration of chemists, especially in rural areas, OTC drugs will be readily available.

The purported rise of lifestyle diseases in the country is expected to boost the industry sales figures, it added.

Highlighting the size of Indian pharmaceuticals market, the document said that India is the sixth largest market globally in terms of size and is expected to rank amongst the top three pharmaceutical markets in terms of incremental growth by 2020.

Apart from the growing domestic market, the Indian drug companies will also see tremendous opportunities arising out of huge surge in the generic drugs as an estimated USD 255 billion worth of patent medicines are to go off-patent between 2011 and 2016, the document said.

Pharmaceuticals industry of India accounts for about 2.4 per cent of the global pharma industry by value and 10 per cent by volume.