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A US pharmaceutical giant, Eli Lilly and Company, has declared that it will dramatically increase its presence in India, whereby the country will become one of the key global supply chain and export markets of its blockbuster drugs, including Mounjaro (tirzepatide) which is the highly desired GLP-1/GIP dual agonist in the raising of diabetes and chronic weight management. The firm is investing in contract manufacturing joint venture and capacity building in India at a rate of 1 billion in a few years.

Published at the India AI Impact Expo 2026 in New Delhi (February 1719, 2026), the announcement is indicative of the Indian pharmaceutical ecosystem, cost abilities, effective workforce, and the uplifting regulatory/political climate, in which Eli Lilly is planning to capitalize on the burgeoning demand of its obesity and diabetes product range.

The twin product of Mounjargo and its collecting brand Zepbound (synonymous with tirzepatide) have enjoyed extravagant sales in the whole world, and it is proposed that the revenues of obesity-drug might surpassed probably in 2030 to over $20 billion weekly. Lilly has also seen high early adoption rates in India, as levels of obesity and diabetes continue to increase at a blistering pace thereafter. GLP-1-based therapies are sold at triple-digit rates locally, as more and more people become aware of them, along with affordability and endocrinologist and bariatric prescriptions.

Eli Lilly India Managing director, Rajeev Venkayya said: India is not merely a market to us but is emerging as a strategic manufacturing and export hub. We are collaborating with the top Indian CDMOs (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations) in order to expand manufacturing of multi-faceted biologics and injectables. This 1 billion commitment will produce high quality employment, resilience in supply chain, and advantage the goal of India to be the pharmacy of the world.

The important aspects of the plan are:

• Multiple and long-term contract manufacturing deals with leading Indian players of tirzepatide and other pipeline molecules.
• Transfer of technology to perform fill-finishing operations and quality systems to satisfy the standards of the USFDA and EMA.
• Investment in cold-chain logistics and export centered facilities.
• Research and development partnership with Indian firms on biosimilars and 2 nd generation treatments.

The relocation is against a backdrop of worldwide supply shortage of GLP-1 medications and rising demand on western producers to cease relying on China. There is an alternative because India has major advantages: the cheap cost, high capacity, established expertise in the field of generics and biologics.

Analysts of the industry consider it a crucial victory to the pharmaceutical industry of India, which might lead to increased pharmaceutical exports, the creation of thousands of technical days, and the buildings of technology. In India, more local manufacturing can eventual result in the low-cost access to more affordable life-altering obesity and diabetes medication by patients.

The $1 billion investment is an indicator that Eli Lilly is keenly investing in India as a reliable business partner in the international innovation and supply of pharma which is a change that would change the dynamics of the industry in the coming years 2030.