New Delhi: The prices of essential medicines, including painkillers, antibiotics and anti-infectives will witness a miniscule increase from April 1 as the Department of Pharmaceuticals on Sunday issued its annual list of revised ceiling prices for 923 scheduled drug formulations and revised retail prices of 65 formulations.
In a notification, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) announced an annual change of 0.0055 percent increase in prices of drugs under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), in line with the annual change in the wholesale price index.
The NPPA said that based on the WPI data provided by the office of the Economic Advisor, Department of Industry and Internal trade Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the annual change in WPI works out as (+) 0.00551 percent during the calendar year 2023 over the corresponding period in 2022. With the changes, manufacturers may now increase the maximum retail price (MRP) of scheduled formulations on the basis of WPI, without needing any prior approval from the government in this regard, the notification stated.