New Delhi, July 16 -- India is preparing to spend Rs.10,000 crore to build a capability its pharmaceutical industry still lacks: discovering, testing and scaling complex biological medicines.

The government will shortly sanction the Biopharma SHAKTI scheme, retaining India's strength in generic drugs while pushing the industry towards innovation-led biologics, according to a senior official familiar with the matter.

The scheme's operational guidelines are in the final stages and will be released by the Department of Pharmaceuticals after necessary approvals, including from the Union cabinet. It will then invite proposals from industry and industry-academia collaborations, the official said.

The shift reflects a gap in India's pharmaceu...