The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has announced a price hike of up to 1.74% on over 900 essential medicines, effective from April 1. The list includes drugs for critical infections, heart diseases, and diabetes.
“Further, as per provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO, 2013), these ceiling prices of scheduled medicines are revised annually based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) (all commodities).
The ceiling prices of scheduled medicines for the financial year 2024-25 were increased by 0.00551 per cent with effect from 1.4.2024, based on annual change in WPI (all commodities). NPPA also fixes the retail price of new drugs, as defined in paragraph 2(1)(u) of DPCO, 2013,” said Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Anupriya Patel in Lok Sabha in a written reply.
The regulator also said in a statement that “the annual change in WPI works out as (+) 1.74028 per cent during the calendar year 2024 over the corresponding period in 2023.”
What Gets Costlier?
As per a Financial Express report, the prices of several essential medicines will rise starting April 1, 2025. Here are some of the price changes:
- Azithromycin (Antibiotic):
- 250mg: ₹11.87 per tablet
- 500mg: ₹23.98 per tablet
- Dry Syrups (Amoxicillin + Clavulanic Acid): ₹2.09 per ml
- Diclofenac (Painkiller): ₹2.09 per tablet
- Ibuprofen (Painkiller):
- 200mg: ₹0.72 per tablet
- 400mg: ₹1.22 per tablet
- Diabetes Medication (Dapagliflozin + Metformin Hydrochloride + Glimepiride): ₹12.74 per tablet
- Acyclovir (Antiviral):
- 200mg: ₹7.74 per tablet
- 400mg: ₹13.90 per tablet
- Hydroxychloroquine (Antimalarial):
- 200mg: ₹6.47 per tablet
- 400mg: ₹14.04 per tablet
The NPPA revises the prices based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and allows manufacturers to increase prices without prior government approval. The National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) regulates these prices.