Prices of 651 essential medicines will go down by 6.73 per cent: Union Health Minister
New Delhi, April 3: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said that the prices of 651 essential medicines which were likely to increase by 12 per cent due to the rising wholesale price index (WPI) will now witness a reduction in their retail prices by an average of nearly 6.73 per cent.
"I would like to humbly tell you some facts about the information you disseminated through a tweet, on increase in the prices of medicines. Even if the company increases the prices based on WPI, a dip of 6.73 per cent has been estimated," Dr Mansukh Mandaviya said.
This comes in response to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's tweet wherein the leader took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a reported hike in prices of some essential medicines. Kharge had said that PM has taken "supari (contract)" to "pick pockets" of the people.
Furthermore, the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers stated that the government of India controls medicine pricing through the Drug Prices Control Order (DPCO), 2013.
"Essential medicines or scheduled formulations have a maximum price limit called the Ceiling Price, which can be increased each year based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) rate set by the government. For 2022, the WPI rate was set at 12.12 per cent, allowing drug manufacturers to increase prices within this limit from April 1, 2023," the ministry added.
The ministry also stated that it made changes to the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) in September 2022, adding 870 medicines.
"These medicines were scheduled under DPCO, 2013, and the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA) began revising the valid ceiling prices of these drugs. Out of the 870 essential medicines, 651 have new ceiling prices, resulting in an average reduction of 16.62 per cent," it said.
Also Read | Japan breaks ranks with US allies, buys Russian oil above $60 barrel cap
- ANI
