Policy Framework Unveiled at December 2025 Summit; Global Launch Planned for Davos 2026
Telangana has announced an ambitious Life Sciences Policy 2.0 that marks a strategic inflection point in India’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical landscape. The policy framework, unveiled by IT and Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu at the Telangana Rising Global Summit 2025 (December 8-9) held at Bharat Future City in Kandukur Mandal, is scheduled for a high-profile global launch at the World Economic Forum in Davos in early 2026. This dual announcement signals Telangana’s intent to transition from a regional pharmaceutical powerhouse to a globally competitive life sciences innovation hub comparable to Boston, San Francisco, and Cambridge.
The policy represents a fundamental shift in how Telangana approaches its life sciences sector. Rather than incremental growth through traditional manufacturing and formulation development, Life Sciences Policy 2.0 treats research and development with the same incentive structures as manufacturing, creating unprecedented opportunity for indigenous innovation. This philosophical reorientation is encapsulated in the state’s rallying cry: “Invent in Telangana,” not merely “Make in India.”
The economic ambitions are formidable. Telangana targets attracting ₹1 lakh crore in new investments by 2030, with the life sciences economy projected to grow from its current $80 billion valuation to $250 billion. These investments are expected to generate five lakh (500,000) new jobs, representing one of the largest employment creation initiatives in India’s life sciences sector. Over the past 20 months alone, Telangana has attracted ₹3.2 lakh crore in total investments, with ₹63,000 crore originating from the life sciences sector, demonstrating the state’s accelerating momentum in this space.
This vision extends beyond 2030. Telangana’s broader Telangana Rising 2047 roadmap aims to transform the state’s economy from its current $200 billion valuation to $1 trillion by 2034 and $3 trillion by 2047, aligning with India’s centennial year of independence. Within this broader framework, life sciences emerges as a cornerstone sector, with Telangana positioned to contribute 10% of India’s total GDP by 2047, up from its current 5% share despite representing only 2.5% of India’s population.
The Five Pillars of Policy 2.0
Bio-Manufacturing at Scale: The policy prioritizes the transition from formulation-focused production to high-volume biologics manufacturing. This includes infrastructure subsidies and single-window approvals designed to accelerate project implementation for companies manufacturing biosimilars, biologics, and advanced therapeutics. The emphasis on biologics addresses a critical gap in India’s pharmaceutical ecosystem, where the nation remains heavily dependent on imports for biologics-based therapies.
Research and Development Parity: A hallmark innovation of Policy 2.0 is the introduction of R&D incentives equal to manufacturing subsidies, breaking the historical pattern where research investment received lower fiscal support than production capacity. The policy integrates tax credits and grant schemes designed to incentivize drug discovery, bioprocess development, and pharmaceutical innovation. This represents a deliberate attempt to shift Telangana’s value proposition from contract manufacturing to intellectual property generation, positioning the state as a destination for early-stage research and clinical development.
Life Sciences University—Talentpipe for Bio-Digital Era: Recognizing that innovation at scale requires a fundamentally different talent ecosystem, Telangana announced the establishment of the Telangana School of Life Sciences, a world-class institution designed as an extension of the Young India Skills University. This university is conceived not merely as a traditional academic institution but as an industry-aligned innovation incubator offering programs ranging from short-term certifications to long-term degree programs, with deep integration with industry leaders including Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, and Biological E.
Notably, the curriculum will feature AI-life sciences integration powered by the WEF’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), ensuring that graduates are equipped not only with biotechnology fundamentals but also with competencies in machine learning-driven drug discovery, computational biology, and digital health platforms. This addresses what state officials identify as the critical bottleneck in India’s biotech sector: the shortage of talent at the intersection of wet lab science and computational technology.
TG-iPASS 2.0—Regulatory Acceleration Engine: Building on the success of the existing TG-iPASS (Telangana-Industrial Project Approval and Self-Certification System), Policy 2.0 introduces TG-iPASS 2.0, an AI-driven single-window clearance system specifically configured for life sciences projects. The existing TG-iPASS framework has been recognized by the Government of India as a best practice under its Ease of Doing Business initiative, with time-bound clearances ranging from 15 to 30 days and automatic approvals for mega projects upon submission of self-certification.
TG-iPASS 2.0 extends this efficiency to the life sciences sector, addressing specific regulatory bottlenecks in pharmaceutical approvals, clinical trial clearances, and manufacturing authorizations. The state is also pursuing establishment of a regional office of the Drugs Controller General of India in Hyderabad to expedite approvals for clinical trials across southern India, reducing the current time lag in regulatory authorization.
Sustainable Power and Green Bio-Manufacturing: Telangana’s Life Sciences Policy 2.0 includes a dedicated sustainable energy component, recognizing that biopharmaceutical manufacturing is energy-intensive. The state offers incentives for captive renewable generation and provides access to green power at industrial tariffs, supporting companies’ sustainability commitments while reducing operational costs. This aligns with Telangana’s broader Clean and Green Energy Policy, which aims to add 20,000 MW of renewable energy and storage capacity by 2030, representing ₹1.98 lakh crore in clean energy investments.
Hyderabad’s Global Positioning
Hyderabad’s emergence as a top-tier global life sciences hub is no longer aspirational—it is recognized fact. According to the Global Life Sciences Atlas 2025 published by CBRE, Hyderabad is ranked among the top 7 global life sciences clusters worldwide, making it the only Indian city featured in this elite cohort alongside Boston-Cambridge, San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Washington DC-Baltimore, and Cambridge (UK).
This positioning reflects tangible ecosystem strengths. Hyderabad is home to Genome Valley, a cluster containing 250+ companies that collectively produce approximately one-third of global vaccine production, one-third of India’s pharmaceutical output, and one-fifth of Indian pharma exports. The region hosts the world’s highest concentration of USFDA-approved manufacturing sites—over 250 facilities—making Telangana the only region globally with this distinction.
Beyond traditional pharma, Hyderabad’s infrastructure has evolved dramatically. Life sciences office space expanded from 0.6 million square feet in 2022 to 2.4 million square feet by 2024, a four-fold increase reflecting sustained investor confidence. The ecosystem encompasses 20+ dedicated life sciences and MedTech incubators, 40+ national research and academic institutions, and emerging specialized clusters including Green Pharma City and the Medical Devices Park. Complementing this biotech ecosystem is Hyderabad’s position as India’s fastest-growing Global Capability Centres (GCC) hub, with 64 of 164 new GCCs established in India over the past three years located in Hyderabad—a 40% concentration. Companies including Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Vanguard, American Airlines, and others have established capability centers, creating a unique convergence of biopharmaceutical research, AI development, and enterprise technology.
Investment Momentum & Recent Commitments
The December 2025 Telangana Rising Global Summit generated substantial investment commitments, validating market confidence in the state’s policy direction. Hetero Group announced ₹1,800 crore for pharmaceutical expansion, Bharat Biotech committed ₹1,000 crore for vaccine and biotech development, and Aurobindo Pharma pledged ₹2,000 crore for manufacturing capacity expansion. A Brookfield/Axis Ventures consortium committed ₹75,000 crore exclusively for infrastructure development, signaling major private sector backing for ecosystem buildout.
These commitments collectively are projected to create tens of thousands of skilled employment opportunities and represent confidence in Telangana’s long-term policy stability and implementation capacity. The fact that established pharmaceutical leaders are anchoring significant expansion capacity in Telangana—rather than competing states like Karnataka or Maharashtra—underscores the competitive advantage created by Policy 2.0’s integrated approach.
Sectoral Focus & Innovation Frontiers
Policy 2.0 identifies specific high-growth segments as priority investment areas: cell and gene therapy, biologics and biosimilars, mRNA vaccines, AI-driven drug discovery, genomics, green biomanufacturing, MedTech, diagnostics, agri-biotech, and animal health. This portfolio approach reflects understanding that future pharmaceutical innovation will not originate from incremental improvements to existing chemistries but from breakthrough technologies at the intersection of life sciences, computational biology, and engineering.
The emphasis on AI-driven drug discovery is particularly strategic, leveraging Hyderabad’s emerging position as an AI hub while applying computational approaches to the pharmaceutical industry’s most intractable challenge: the rising cost and extended timelines of novel drug development. Similarly, mRNA vaccine technology, catalyzed by the success of COVID-19 vaccines and demonstrated in the broader vaccine platform space, represents an opportunity for Telangana to leverage its vaccine manufacturing expertise into next-generation therapeutic platforms.
WEF Partnership & Global Integration
Telangana’s partnership with the World Economic Forum provides structural support for Policy 2.0’s execution. C4IR Telangana (Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution), established in collaboration with WEF in 2023, serves as the first thematic centre on healthcare and life sciences created by the Forum globally. C4IR Telangana facilitates development and adoption of technologies in genomics, personalized medicine, and healthcare manufacturing, serving as a bridge between governmental policy, industry innovation, and academic research.
The decision to launch Policy 2.0 at Davos 2026 signals intent to position Telangana alongside other global biotech leadership centers in the international investment and innovation dialogue. This global platform provides access to global venture capital, multinational pharmaceutical partnerships, and international regulatory expertise—resources critical for scaling novel therapeutic development.
A critical recognition embedded in Policy 2.0 is that infrastructure and financial incentives, while necessary, are insufficient without corresponding investment in human capital. The planned Life Sciences University, developed in collaboration with industry leaders and WEF’s C4IR, represents an attempt to address what state planners identify as a critical talent bottleneck: the shortage of professionals educated at the intersection of biotechnology, artificial intelligence, healthcare regulation, and digital health platforms.
The university’s AI-life sciences curriculum is particularly innovative, recognizing that the future pharmaceutical professional must be conversant in both wet-lab biochemistry and machine learning paradigms. The integration with WEF’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution ensures that curriculum design remains aligned with emerging industry needs rather than becoming ossified in traditional academic structures.
Policy Implementation Mechanisms
The policy’s implementation is underpinned by institutional capacity. The Mission Directorate functions as a single-window agency coordinating life sciences company requirements, leveraging the success of existing TG-iPASS frameworks while extending oversight to sector-specific challenges. The government has committed to continuous engagement with the Drugs Controller General of India to establish regional oversight capacity, recognizing that regulatory speed is a critical competitive advantage in pharmaceutical development.
The Life Sciences Knowledge Center referenced in earlier state policy documents will continue operating in partnership mode, identifying industry skill requirements and facilitating talent pre-selection and subsidized training in specialized domains including clinical trial management, pharmaceutical regulatory affairs, and bioprocess engineering.
Competitive Context & Regional Implications
Telangana’s Policy 2.0 arrives at a moment of significant competitive intensity in India’s biotech sector. While Karnataka’s Bengaluru has long dominated India’s biotech landscape and remains the national leader in startup density, Telangana’s strategy represents a deliberate differentiation: rather than competing on volume of startups, Telangana is positioning itself as the destination for capital-intensive bio-manufacturing and high-value R&D, leveraging historical pharmaceutical strengths while modernizing into emerging therapeutic platforms.
The policy’s emphasis on R&D incentives parity with manufacturing addresses a genuine market gap. India’s pharmaceutical industry has historically been dominated by generics and contract manufacturing; the scarcity of domestically developed novel therapeutics reflects not scientific limitations but insufficient financial incentive structures. By equalizing R&D and manufacturing support, Policy 2.0 creates the fiscal environment for Indian companies to invest in drug discovery rather than copying existing molecules.
Toward a $3 Billion Life Sciences Economy by 2047
The specific framing of Telangana’s long-term vision—positioning Hyderabad as “the world’s life sciences engine by 2047″—reflects ambitions extending far beyond current pharmaceutical production metrics. The state envisions a scenario where Hyderabad is recognized globally not primarily for bulk drug manufacturing or generic formulation, but for fundamental innovation in cellular therapies, genomics-based medicine, and next-generation diagnostics.
This vision is neither fantastical nor unprecedented. Cambridge (UK), Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Area achieved their dominant positions through deliberate policy support for research-intensive bioscience combined with venture capital concentration, stringent regulatory pathways that became competitive advantages, and sustained commitment to world-class research institutions. Telangana’s policy framework—combining R&D incentives, regulatory acceleration, infrastructure development, and talent cultivation—mirrors these proven success factors adapted to India’s specific context and competitive position.
Telangana’s Life Sciences Policy 2.0 represents a significant strategic recalibration of India’s approach to pharmaceutical innovation and biotechnology development. By treating R&D and manufacturing incentives as equal, establishing a world-class life sciences university, implementing AI-driven regulatory acceleration, and securing global partnership through WEF integration, the state has created a framework for transitioning from incremental pharmaceutical growth to fundamental innovation leadership.
The policy’s timing is strategic—announced at a moment when global pharmaceutical innovation is accelerating toward personalized medicine, synthetic biology, and computational drug discovery. Telangana’s positioning of these emerging sectors as core strategic priorities, combined with its existing USFDA-approved manufacturing infrastructure and growing GCC ecosystem, creates a unique opportunity for India to develop integrated biopharmaceutical ecosystems capable of competing globally.
The scheduled Davos 2026 launch ensures that Policy 2.0 enters the global investment dialogue at the highest level, signaling to international capital, multinational pharmaceutical companies, and biotech entrepreneurs that India—and Telangana specifically—has entered a new era of life sciences ambition. For the Indian pharmaceutical industry, accustomed to competing on cost and manufacturing efficiency, this represents both challenge and opportunity: the challenge of developing genuine innovation capability, and the opportunity to move upstream in the global value chain toward higher-margin, higher-impact therapeutic development.
- Srikanth Amirapu
