The government has capped the maximum price of most of the medicines included in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), due to which the prices of 651 medicines have come down by an average of 6.73 per cent since April.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) gave this information on Monday. The NPPA tweeted that the government has so far been able to fix the ceiling price of 651 of the total 870 drugs listed in the NLEM.
The Health Ministry had amended the NLEM in September, 2022 and it now covers a total of 870 drugs. NPPA says that by fixing the maximum price of 651 essential medicines, their average price has come down by 16.62 percent.
Due to this, 651 medicines whose prices were to increase by 12.12 per cent have been reduced by 6.73 per cent since April 1, he said in a statement.
It said that despite an increase of 12.12 per cent in the prices of medicines on the basis of Wholesale Price Index (WPI), consumers will get the benefit of reduction in prices. The NPPA had said on March 25 that the annual change in WPI for 2022 is 12.12 per cent.
