Singh has pro-industry credentials, she was Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) under Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India betweeb 2014 and 2015.
Viswanath Pilla
Moneycontrol News
The Union government appointed Shubhra Singh as Chairman of India drug price regulator - the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) with immediate effect.
Singh will be the fifth chairman of NPPA in the past six and a half years.
Singh, 1989 batch officer belonging to Rajasthan cadre, was posted in Delhi as the principal chief resident commissioner of Rajasthan government.
Singh request for deputation to serve at the Centre was approved by Rajasthan government in October. Singh was elevated as additional secretary in July this year.
The incumbent NPPA chairman RK Vats, will now take up additional charge as Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor at the Department of Health & Family Welfare, to
The post that Vats will occupy was vacated by Vijaya Shrivastava due to her superannuation.
Vats took the additional charge as NPPA chairman in April 2018.
Vats appointment drew criticism from healthcare activist, as his hands were already tied up with multiple positions including that of Director General (DG) of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL), a public sector enterprise under Union Health Ministry that makes condoms, vaccines, medical consumables and diagnostic kits.
One person on condition of anonymity told Moneycontrol that Singh's appointment underscores the fact they may not be big surprises on price control front like the price ceilings introduced by NPPA last year.
Singh has pro-industry credentials, she was Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India between 2014 and 2015.
The role of NPPA assumed significance after the authority took steps to rein in profiteering by companies by bringing in more drug formulations under the ambit of Drug Price Control Order and capping prices of stents and knee implants under former chairman Bhupendra Singh. However, Bhupendra Singh was transferred in March this year to head the National Authority of Chemical Weapons Convention (NACWC).
