rejikjoseph@isid.org.in

Dr Reji K Joseph is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), New Delhi. He joined ISID in 2015, bringing with him extensive experience in research and policy analysis, particularly in the areas of the Indian pharmaceutical industry, trade and investment policy, and patents and development. 

Before joining ISID, Dr Joseph served as an Assistant Professor at the School of International Studies, Central University of Gujarat. His previous professional engagements include serving as a Consultant with the Centre for WTO Studies (Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2007–2009) and with the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) (Ministry of External Affairs, 2009–2012). 

Dr Joseph has published widely across multiple formats, including books and monographs, peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, policy briefs, working papers, and opinion pieces in leading national dailies.  

He holds a PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.

Research Interests: Indian Pharmaceutical Industry; Patents and Innovation policies; Foreign Trade and Investment Policies.  

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CLAsFDEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reji-k-joseph-24023414/

Recent Publications 

• Deepening India-Korea Economic Engagement with a Focus on the Indian Manufacturing Sector, ISID Working Paper No. 294, February 2025 (Co-author: Ramaa Arun Kumar) 
• Making Global Pharma Supply Chain Resilient: Will the PLI scheme of India make it a reliable alternative to China for the supply of APIs? Indian Economic Journal, August 2024, https://doi.org/10.1177/00194662241265475 (Co-author: Ramaa Arun Kumar) 
• Trump’s Reciprocal Tariff Policy: Implications for Indian Pharmaceutical Industry, India’s World: International Affairs, Indian Interests, 26 March 2025. https://indiasworld.in/trumps-reciprocal-tariff-policy-implications-for-indian-pharma-industry/. 
• A New Leader in Pharma, Times of India, (in The New India series), 29 June 2025, Raipur.  
• Pharma PLI Needs to be Revisited, Business Line, 30 April 2024, Delhi.  

 Ongoing Research Studies 

• R&D Scenario in Indian Pharma Industry to meet the Global Challenges 
• Reducing India’s import dependence on Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: What more needs to be done?  
• Emergence of a Leading Global Innovative Firm from India: The case study of Tata Motors 
• Deepening of Economic Partnership between India and South Korea 

Teaching 

• We (me along with Dr Ramaa Arun Kumar and Dr Isha Chawla) offer the course International Trade and Development to PhD students. My sessions cover trade policy, multilateral regime in governing foreign trade relations, key issues in WTO, and India’s foreign trade policy.  

Recently Completed Projects 

• Make in India: An Assessment of the Impact of the Programme on six Manufacturing Sectors
  This short-term collaborative empirical study, sponsored by the ICSSR, covered six manufacturing sectors and involved six ISID faculty members, each serving as a Project Director for her/his respective sectoral study. I served as the Project Coordinator and also as the Project Director for the pharmaceuticals sector study. The report was submitted to the ICSSR in February 2025.

• Strategy for leveraging ASEAN FTA and trade potential with the Middle East Countries for Pharma Sector in India
  This study was sponsored by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India. The report was submitted to Department of Pharmaceuticals in March 2023.

• Macroeconomic context for innovative activity in India
  This study was sponsored by UNIDO as part of the UNIDO – Department of Science and Technology (DST) Project on National Manufacturing Innovation Survey (NMIS) 2021 reports. The report was submitted to UNIDO in December 2022.