Govt to amend norms in 15 days for fixing prices of 350 drugs

New Delhi : Drugs Prices Control Order will be amended in the next 15 days to enable the regulator NPPA to fix prices of about 350 medicines whose market data is not available, Union Minister Ananth Kumar said.

Addressing the foundation day of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister said the prices of nearly 900 medicines have been fixed under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, (DPCO) 2013 resulting in a saving of about Rs 5,000 crore to consumers.

The pricing of another 368 new formulations has also been fixed, he added.

"For about 350 medicines which are under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) we are not getting any market data. To bring them under the price control, we need to tweak the DPCO. In next 15 days, we are going to make the amendment to empower the NPPA," Kumar said.

He said the government would not be a "mute spectator" and will regulate the prices of these 350 items as well.

The minister further said the NPPA would fix the prices of all the remaining medicines in NLEM in a couple of months.

Calling pharma as the 'sunrise industry' which is growing at a rapid pace, Kumar said the size of the Indian pharma industry is likely to cross USD 50 billion in the next three years from USD 35 billion in 2015.

He noted that 100 per cent FDI has been allowed in pharma sectors, including brownfield projects.

In order to make medicines available at an affordable price, the minister said the government is targeting to open 3,000 Jan Aushadhi stores across the country. At present, there are over 400 stores.

Expressing concerns over the low consumption of medicines by people living below the poverty line, Kumar said there is a need for the NPPA to intervene and regulate the market to make essential drugs affordable to poor as well as producing and making generic drugs available to them.

Kumar also launched a new mobile app 'Pharma Sahi Daam' that will help customers to know the price of medicines fixed by the NPPA. The minister expects this new initiative to be a huge success.

The minister also pitched for making a separate ministry for the pharma sector. He would also request the Prime Minister to declare August 29, the foundation day of NPPA, as 'Rashtriya Jan Aushadhi Divas'.

Emphasising on making the Indian pharma sector globally competitive, Kumar said the government is developing pharma parks and medical devices parks which will reduce the production cost.