Price Hike On Essential Medicines Starting April 1: Here's What You Need To Know

The revised prices will apply to approximately 1,000 drugs listed under the National List of Essential Medicines. Price adjustments for scheduled drugs are permitted once a year

Industry insiders note that prices of key active pharmaceutical ingredients have surged between 15 per cent and 130 per cent in recent years

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Starting April 1, prices of essential medicines, including painkillers, antibiotics, anti-infectives, anti-diabetics, and cancer drugs, will experience a slight rise. The government has approved a 1.74 per cent price hike for drugs listed under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), in accordance with the annual adjustment based on the wholesale price index (WPI).

"The annual change in WPI works out as 1.74028 per cent during the calendar year 2024 over the corresponding period in 2023. As per the provisions of Paragraph 16 (2) of Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013, the manufacturers may increase the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of Scheduled formulations on the basis of this WPI and no prior approval of the government in this regard shall be required," said the office memorandum by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), according to a The Economic Times report.

Price Hike Once A Year

The revised prices will apply to approximately 1,000 drugs listed under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). Price adjustments for scheduled drugs are permitted once a year.

The list of essential medicines includes widely used drugs such as paracetamol, antibiotics like azithromycin for bacterial infections, anti-anaemia medications, vitamins, and minerals, as well as certain steroids.

However, pharma executives are not optimistic about the price increase, pointing out that the modest rise continues for the second consecutive year. "It was the same story last year too with an only 0.00551 per cent increase," said a pharma expert in the report.

Before this, the industry saw more significant price hikes of 12 per cent and 10 per cent in 2023 and 2022, respectively. The sector has been pushing for a substantial price increase to offset rising input costs.

Price Hike Over The Years

Industry insiders note that prices of key active pharmaceutical ingredients have surged between 15 per cent and 130 per cent in recent years, with paracetamol prices increasing by 130 per cent and excipients rising by as much as 18-262 per cent, states the report.

Solvents such as glycerine and propylene glycol, used in nearly all liquid preparations, including syrups and sterile products, have seen price hikes of 263 per cent and 83 per cent, respectively. Prices for intermediates have also risen between 11 per cent and 175 per cent, with Penicillin G becoming 175 per cent more expensive.

Given these increases, industry experts are hoping for a more significant price hike in the future. Earlier, a lobby group representing over 1,000 Indian drugmakers had urged the government to implement an immediate 10 per cent price hike across all scheduled formulations.