India: Prices Of Over 800 Essential Drug Formulations Cut In Past 2 Year

Prices of 851 essential drug formulations were cut, mostly in the 5-40% range, in the past 2 years, the government informed recently.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Mr. Mansukh Mandaviya said the government has cut the prices of 234 essential drugs by up to 5%.

Prices of another 134 formulations were reduced in the range of 5-10%, and of more 98 products by 10-15%. Another set of 98 formulations saw prices reduced by 15-20%. In addition to that 93 formulations saw prices drop by 20-25%, the minister said.

He further said that NPPA (National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority) also slashed prices of 65 products ranging between 25-30%, 46 products between 30-35%, 24 products in the range of 35-40% and 59 products over 40%. In a separate reply, Mr. Mandaviya said turnover of scheduled formulations stood at Rs. 19,877-crore for the year ended December 31.

Growth rate for such formulations declined by 3% last year as compared with a growth of 2% in 2016 and 13% in 2015, the minister said.

In same time turnover of non-scheduled formulations stood at Rs. 96,512-crore, a growth of 8%, he added. Total turnover of the both scheduled and non-scheduled formulations stood at Rs. 1,16,389-crore, a growth of 6%, the minister informed.