New Delhi: The Government of India has cleared the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy. The policy aims to bring 348 essential drugs under price control, which will lead to average reduction of around 20 percent in prices.
“The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy has been approved by the Cabinet with an objective to put in place a regulatory framework for pricing of drugs to ensure their availability at reasonable prices,” as per an official source.
Currently, prices of 74 bulk drugs and their formulations is controlled by the Government of India with the help of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).
Earlier, the fix prices based on weighted average of brands which have more than 1 per cent market share was proposed by the Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Mr Sharad Pawar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries.The Government has also considered providing sufficient opportunity for innovation and competition to support growth of the Indian pharmaceutical industry.
"Pharma industry allows for an increase in prices of 2-3 per cent every year. If an average 20 per cent reduction in prices of essential drugs happens, it means buying at 2004 prices. This will benefit consumers," as per Ameesh Masurekar, Director, All Indian Origin Chemists & Distributors Ltd (AIOCD).
The scope of the policy is estimated to be around 17 per cent of the total pharmaceutical market, while coupling it with the existing medicines under price control, the coverage increases to around 30 per cent.
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