Recent comments made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have put a spotlight on the nation's pharmaceutical industry, the Economic Times of India reported on Tuesday. The comments centred on introducing a legal framework in a bid to promote the use of generic medicines by patients.

His comments come as a call for doctors, chemists and pharmacists to prescribe generic drugs over branded ones whenever possible to drive down prices and ease the pressure put on individuals or families that are supporting someone who is suffering from a disease or disorder.

However, for writer Sanjiv Kaul, while the concept is noble, "given the ground realities of our inefficient and inadequately manned regulatory infrastructure and poorly invested healthcare delivery system, it could end up being an exercise in futility and chaos."

Kaul went on to outline that in 2016 the overall healthcare market was worth some USD80bn, with medicines (including generics) making up USD16bn of that. Approximately 60% of healthcare spend goes to delivery services such as hospitals and clinics, but according to the WHO, India only has 0.7 beds per 1,000 people, compared to 2.5 beds in China and 3.6 in Brazil, suggesting that the problem is far more nuanced than just high pharmaceutical prices.