Pharma giant plans a major expansion in India, selecting Hyderabad for its next-generation manufacturing and quality-control centre to support global supply

Hyderabad, Telangana : Monday, October 7, 2025

Eli Lilly commits $1 billion to India expansion

In a major boost to India’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector, Eli Lilly and Company, the global pharmaceutical giant headquartered in Indianapolis, announced an investment of $1 billion to establish a contract manufacturing and quality hub in Hyderabad, Telangana.

The project marks one of the company’s largest investments in Asia and positions Hyderabad as a pivotal center in Lilly’s global supply chain. The initiative aims to expand manufacturing capacity, enhance quality oversight, and support global drug production — particularly in therapeutic areas such as diabetes, oncology, and autoimmune diseases.

According to Eli Lilly’s India Managing Director, the Hyderabad hub will serve as a key site for coordinating with contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) across the country while ensuring strict adherence to global quality and regulatory standards.

“This investment underscores our confidence in India’s scientific talent and manufacturing capability,” the company said in an official statement.

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Hyderabad chosen for its pharma leadership

Hyderabad, widely recognized as India’s pharmaceutical capital, was chosen due to its robust infrastructure, proximity to leading research institutions, and deep talent pool in life sciences and quality control.

The city’s Genome Valley already houses several multinational pharma firms, biotechnology parks, and innovation centers, making it an ideal choice for Eli Lilly’s newest global facility.

The company’s leadership team highlighted that Hyderabad’s established ecosystem in drug discovery, formulation, and regulatory compliance made it the “natural choice” for the new project.

This investment will likely create over 1,200 high-skilled jobs in its first phase — including roles for engineers, chemists, analytical experts, and quality professionals — with expansion planned in subsequent stages.

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India’s growing role in global pharma supply chains

Eli Lilly’s move comes amid a broader shift in global pharmaceutical manufacturing strategies, as companies diversify production away from single-source countries to enhance resilience and control.

India, with its strong record in API production, generics manufacturing, and export compliance, is increasingly being recognized as a reliable and cost-efficient hub for global pharma supply chains.

Lilly’s Hyderabad facility will serve as both a regional coordination center and a global quality hub, ensuring uniform production and compliance across its network of Indian partners.

The company already sources some products from Indian CMOs, but this facility gives it direct oversight of product quality and process validation — a critical step to ensure regulatory readiness for exports to the U.S., EU, and emerging markets.

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Phased development and strategic objectives

According to sources, the $1 billion investment will be rolled out in three phases:

• Phase I (2025–2026): Land acquisition, infrastructure setup, and regulatory certifications.
• Phase II (2026–2028): Establishment of advanced laboratories, pilot manufacturing units, and automation systems.
• Phase III (2028–2030): Full-scale operation with multiple production lines for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and formulations, integrated with global supply networks.

Once operational, the Hyderabad hub will serve more than 50 global markets and may also support the local production of Eli Lilly’s flagship drugs, including those for diabetes and obesity management.

A senior executive noted: “We are building not just a manufacturing hub, but a center of excellence that will combine technology, analytics, and process control.”

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Quality and compliance focus

The new quality hub will oversee advanced testing, validation, and auditing processes for products made under Lilly’s name in India.

It will include specialized laboratories for stability testing, analytical research, data integrity, and regulatory documentation, ensuring that Indian-manufactured products meet FDA, EMA, and WHO-GMP standards.

Additionally, the hub will house a digital quality management system (QMS) powered by cloud-based AI tools, integrating real-time data from partner facilities.

This marks Eli Lilly’s deeper integration of Microsoft AI and Azure cloud computing platforms into its global manufacturing ecosystem — strengthening process automation and predictive maintenance.

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Boost to India’s biotech ecosystem

The announcement has been welcomed by industry experts and policymakers as a vote of confidence in India’s pharmaceutical ecosystem.

Telangana’s IT and Industries Minister, K. T. Rama Rao, said:

“Eli Lilly’s $1 billion investment reinforces Hyderabad’s global leadership in life sciences and biotechnology. This is not just an investment in infrastructure, but in the future of scientific innovation.”

The state government has promised fast-track approvals, incentives, and infrastructure support, including access to Hyderabad Pharma City — a world-class industrial cluster for life sciences manufacturing.

The project is expected to attract additional investments from suppliers, logistics providers, and research collaborators, creating a multiplier effect in employment and innovation.

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Lilly’s global manufacturing strategy

This investment is part of Eli Lilly’s broader $8 billion global expansion plan aimed at building new facilities in the U.S., Ireland, and Asia to meet surging demand for innovative drugs.

The company’s focus areas include metabolic disorders, oncology, Alzheimer’s disease, and immunology — all of which require advanced biologics and sterile injectable capabilities.

The Hyderabad site will complement Lilly’s other international manufacturing centers and help it optimize production costs, flexibility, and sustainability.

Analysts say this move strengthens Lilly’s competitive positioning against peers like Novo Nordisk and Pfizer, who are also ramping up investments in India and Southeast Asia.

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Economic and industry impact

Industry watchers expect the Eli Lilly investment to catalyze India’s emergence as a hub for high-value pharmaceutical manufacturing, beyond generic drugs.

With companies like AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Bristol Myers Squibb expanding their footprints in Hyderabad, the city is on track to become a global cluster for both innovation and industrial-scale production.

Economists estimate that Lilly’s investment will contribute more than $400 million annually to local GDP once fully operational and enhance India’s export competitiveness in advanced formulations.

This move also aligns with the “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiatives, which encourage multinational companies to set up end-to-end value chains in India.

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Looking ahead

Construction of the Hyderabad hub is expected to begin early next year, with Phase I completion targeted by mid-2026. Recruitment and partnership announcements with local CMOs are already underway.

Once operational, Eli Lilly’s Hyderabad hub will stand as a symbol of India’s transformation from a supplier of generics to a strategic global manufacturing partner.