By Rishika Sadam

Oct 6 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly ( LLY ) will invest more

than $1 billion in India in the coming years to boost

manufacturing and supply through local drugmakers, the company

said on Monday, as it seeks to tap into skilled workforce to

bolster its global manufacturing expansion.

The collaborations aim to increase the availability of

Lilly's key drugs, including those for obesity, diabetes,

Alzheimer's, cancer and autoimmune conditions, the company said.

"We are making significant investments to increase

manufacturing and medicine supply capacity around the world,"

Patrik Jonsson, president of Lilly International, said, adding,

India is a hub for capability building within its global

network.

The company, which launched its blockbuster weight-loss drug

Mounjaro in India this year, currently does not operate its own

manufacturing facility in the country, which hosts several firms

that develop and manufacture complex drugs, vials, injectables

for larger pharmaceuticals on a contract basis.

"Lilly is actively engaging with contract manufacturers in

India," the company told Reuters, but did not divulge any

further details.

Lilly's investment plans in India come at a time when

global drugmakers are rushing to bolster U.S. manufacturing

capacity after the Trump administration imposed a 100% tariff on

imported branded and patented drugs from October 1.

Last month, Lilly announced a $5 billion investment in a new

facility in Virginia, part of a $27 billion expansion plan to

build four new U.S. plants over the next five years.

Meanwhile, the India launch of Mounjaro, alongside Danish

drugmaker Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, has increased

patient awareness of obesity treatments in a country projected

to have the world's second-largest obese population by 2050.

Sales of both drugs doubled within months of their launch.

Lilly is also preparing for increased competition from

India's generic drugmakers, who are racing to launch cheaper

versions of Wegovy once its main chemical ingredient,

semaglutide, goes off patent next year.

Separately, Lilly is setting up a manufacturing and quality

facility in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad to expand its

presence beyond the city's global capability center.

The new hub will oversee the firm's contract manufacturing

network across India and provide technical capabilities.

Recruitment for the new site "will begin immediately", Lilly

said, with plans to hire engineers, chemists, analytical

scientists, quality control and assurance experts and managers.