The global pharmaceutical market is projected to reach 1.6 trillion 2028 (CAGR:6.5 1.6 trillion by 2028(CAGR:6.52 million to $50 million+ depending on scale and location. In this guide, we break down every cost component, share regional cost comparisons, and provide actionable strategies to optimize your budget.

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the growth of the pharma sector jumped to 103% in comparison to 2013-14 and 2021-22, The absolute figure comes out to Rs. 90 415 Crores in 2013-14 to Rs. 1,83,422 Crores in 2021-22.

How much investment needed start a pharma mfg. plant — How Much Investment Needed to Start a Pharma Mfg. Plant?

India has an edge in this sector due to a large skilled workforce available for the pharma industry. Countries like the US and the UK are big importers of Indian pharmaceutical generic products. If you are a business owner and looking to enter in pharmaceutical sector, the right way will be to start with a manufacturing plant. The Pharma marketing industry is struggling due to price fluctuations of third-party manufacturing companies.

Also Read: Pharmaceutical formulation plant for sale in North India

Roadmap to set up a pharma manufacturing unit:

Land Acquisition
Facility Design
Regulatory Approvals
Machinery Setup
Workforce Hiring
Commercial Production

Land & Infrastructure Costs: Location Matters

Land Prices INR (Per Sq.Ft)

Region	Urban Area	Rural Area
Hyderabad, India	6000	3500
Uttarakhand, India	4000	2500
Haryana, India	5000	3000

Infrastructure Essentials:

Specialized Flooring: Epoxy resin (INR 80/sq ft) for contamination control.
HVAC Systems: 1 cr.. to 1.5 cr. (critical for temperature-sensitive drugs).
Zoning Laws: Environmental clearances add 6–12 months and 500000 (e.g., EU’s EIA Directive).

See the following table in way of the cost sheet you need to set up a pharma plant in India.

S.No.	Description	Qty	These expenses are for a three-section medium-sized plant with medium-grade machinery and a WHO-GMP level compliance system, the price may go up or down about 10 percent due to various factors that can not be counted in general terms cost observations.	TOTAL COST
1	Land cost for plant setup	1000 sq. mt	5000	5000000
2	These expenses are for three three-section medium-sized plant with medium-grade machinery and a WHO-GMP level compliance system, the price may go up or down about 10 percent due to various factors that can not be counted in general terms cost observations.	15000sq. ft	1100/- per feet	15000000
3	Airline, Nitrogen line, and complete insulation of lines			15000000
4	Laboratory furniture and required instruments for obtaining the license (including HPLC, UV, and Microbiology lab instruments)			5000000
5	Fire tank construction up to 50000 lit., fire line in the building, fire cylinders as per NOC requirements. Motor and pump installation in the water tank, (Fire NOC)			600000
7	ETP plant setup, ETP pit construction, and complete setup of the system up to functioning conditions. ( For the capacity of 10000 liters per day of the tablet, capsule, and liquid sections)			800000
8	Air-line, Nitrogen line, and complete insulation of lines			200000
9	Submersible boring and complete pipes, electric motor, cable, starter, labor.	1	300 feet	80000
10	Ducting as WHO-GMP norms, with insulation	20000	145 sq. ft	2900000
11	AHU Complete (DOUBLE SKIN AHU) total numbers required: 20 AHU units ( as per WHO-GMP certificate) & HEPA FILTERS, TERMINAL HEPA FILTER, Pressure Monitoring Systems, Electrical Panel, AHU Panel. & cabling of 20 AHUs Condensing Units only	20		3000000
12	Complete Chiller plant setup with supply to AHU Units,	2		2000000
13	Plumbing work in every section of the plant, with material, and high-strength industrial GMP Drain system, complete material, civil architect consultation, the labor of drainage system,	on 17000 sq. feet		500000
14	Puff panel partition on the ground floor with material coating as per WHO compliance for the surface to contact to material inside the production area. With installation. (Approx area: 800 sq. mt)	1600 sq. meters	1600	2560000
15	Complete electric work inside the production area of the company including electric panels, switches, 3 line wire cable up to machines, lights in the production area rooms, switches, and boards for machines plugs, ( All material will be used heavy duty industrial grade, the wire will be used brand like RR cable, supreme, Surya, etc,) + Complete labor, electric engineer’s drawing and consultation fee included.			1700000
16	Complete Water line in production and DM/RO water system for plant capacity requirements	1	1	600000
17	GMP complying materials Doors (total 60 doors) and 35 windows (double side glass plain surfaced) in the productions area only. DOOR=15000 Each, WINDOW=10000 EACH.	60+35		1250000
18	Epoxy work in the required production area and kota stone repair after laying out of plumbing work breakage	4500 sq. ft	90/ sq. ft	400000
19	Fall ceiling in the production area where it is required up to 5000 feet needs a minimum,	5000	70	350000
20	GMP compliance Pass boxes for material movement room to next room, SPB 2 door 2x2x2=12, SPB 3 door 2x2x2=3, Dynamic 2 door 2x2x2 =2, Dynamic 3 door 2x2x2 =2	18		750000
21	Misclacious machinery (production and lab)			500000
22	DIC documents, Pollution Noc,			300000
23	Liosoning and Drug license expenses			600000

		TOTAL		59090000
			Five crores ninty lakh ninty thousand only
Note:	These expenses are for a three-section medium-sized plant with medium-grade machinery and a WHO-GMP level compliance system, the price may go up or down about 10 percent due to various factors that can not be counted in general terms cost observations.

In this cost sheet, I tried to cover all points required in plant setup but it is highly possible some insignificant steps may have been missed. The cost of the plant will be in this range in 2023. If someone is telling you the cost is around 2 or 3 crores either he is making you a fool or he has no idea of plant setup.

In 2023 everything is available at a double price so the price of plant setup has increased almost twice from the year 2021.

Minimum steps to set up a pharma Plant?

Pharmaceutical formulation plant setup is a totally scientific and expertise-level job that requires a high level of precision.

The following major steps are required to set up a pharma plant:

Designing and Planning.
Layout map of plant All drawings like Building, fire, plumber, air, water and electricity AHU, Ducting, Doors, and pass box.
Construction bounding.
Clean room area development
AHU and Fall ceiling
Installation of machines.
Setting up laboratory
Preparation of documents like. SOPs, MFRs, Application for drug license.

Total time required to set up a pharma plant

Small-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in India required a minimum of about 18 months to 24 months from the start to the production level stage. There are many things that consume time at the level of clearance by Govt. departments. If you need CLU or Form-143 in Uttarakhand or Form-118 in Himachal Pradesh, it may take up to 6 months.

The total time of completion of a pharma formulation plant may vary by various factors like DIC permission, Fire department NOC, Pollution department NOC, Form-143, Form118, CLU or bank-related hurdle. Therefore, it is always said that following the advice of an expert while building a pharma manufacturing plant, the advice of an expert will cut your cost in terms of avoiding the revisions of works, saving time, and resulting in an objections-free unit.