Indian pharma supply chain: China dependence, AI & cold chain, with Anshul Agrawal, SCL Lifesciences
India’s pharmaceutical industry has built a strong position in APIs and generic medicines. What will it take to move into more complex drug development and become a trusted partner for global pharma companies?
In this episode of Leaders Speak, Anshul Agrawal, Chief Business Officer & Head CDMO at SCL Lifesciences, joins Libin Chacko Kurian to discuss that next stage of growth. He explains why he joined SCL and how its chemistry and manufacturing experience provides a foundation for deeper customer partnerships. For him, the shift towards CDMO means becoming involved earlier in development and supporting a medicine through its product journey.
That ambition also depends on a reliable supply chain. Anshul identifies selected key starting materials and intermediates as areas where India remains exposed to concentrated sourcing. “We are still dependent on China, on some of those materials,” he says. He discusses backward integration, supplier diversification, domestic capabilities, and scenario planning as ways to build resilience.
The conversation then turns to complex small molecules, high-potency chemistry, peptides, GLP-1s, biologics, and SCL’s work on mRNA vaccine ingredients. Anshul argues that companies should build on their strengths rather than simply follow market trends. He explains how SCL’s knowledge centre in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, supports its development work and its ambition to offer broader solutions to customers.
AI is another part of that journey, with applications across research, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain planning. But Anshul makes clear that progress depends on data, processes, and people. The goal, he says, is to “use AI to augment human expertise rather than replacing it.”
When global pharma companies choose a CDMO partner, price is only one consideration. Scientific capability, compliance, quality, speed, and dependable supply all help build trust. As Anshul puts it, “reliability is often a greater competitive advantage than simply being the lowest cost supplier.”
He argues that India needs more innovative research, stronger academia-industry collaboration, and government support. He also explains why logistics must evolve alongside complex therapies, with better infrastructure, real-time shipment visibility, and unbroken cold chains for life-saving medicines.
