Panel moots drug bouquet to check prices

The committee constituted by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals to review the span of price control for medicines including trad...

The committee constituted by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals to review the span of price control for medicines including trade margins has recommended the formation of a basket of drugs including National List of Essential Medicines, 2003. The list, based on 354 bulk drugs and medicines of emergency care under the National Health Programme for price management regime, would serve to monitor prices.

The committee, which submitted its interim report to the government, has highlighted several important issues related to the maintenance of reasonable prices for essential drugs.

Disclosing this at the Economic Editors Conference on Wednesday, Union Minister for Chemicals, Fertilizers and Steel Ram Vilas Paswan said, ‘‘The committee has suggested two types of monitoring — intensive and normal monitoring.’’

Story continues below this ad

For intensive monitoring, which would include all those drugs that do not fall under the criteria for price control, a lower cap on price increase ranging from 10 to 15 per cent per annum would be fixed. For normal monitoring this cap is 20 per cent. In the case of other drugs normal monitoring by NPPA would continue.

In case of non-scheduled category drugs, the recommended margins for branded drugs are 10 per cent for wholesalers and 20 per cent for retailers. For generic medicines these should be 15 and 35 per cent respectively.

Currently, up to 1000 per cent or even more is being charged on some of the generic medicines.

‘Grave insult to wounded people’: Cong lashes out at PM Modi amid his first Manipur visit

India16 hr ago

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Manipur for the first time since ethnic violence hit the state in May 2023, the Congress on Saturday called it a “farce, tokenism, and a grave insult to a wounded people”.

View all shorts

Live Blog