Neeraj Bagga
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, May 10

Suspension of air transport between China and India has caused a shortage of salts, raw material for preparing medicines, which, in turn, enhanced their prices in the domestic market. China took this measure following a surge in the Covid-19 cases in India.

The biggest hike was noticed in methylprednisolone which rose from Rs 85,000 to Rs 2.30 lakh within a week. The medicine is in high demand to clear the chest of Covid-19 positive patients.

Rate of paracetamol hiked from Rs350 to Rs900/kg

The price of paracetamol hiked from Rs350 per kg to Rs900 per kg, ivermectin from Rs15,000 per kg to Rs70,000 per kg, doxycycline from Rs6,000 per kg to Rs15,500 and azithromycin from Rs8,500 to Rs14,000 during the past some months.

For instance, the price of paracetamol hiked from Rs 350 per kg to Rs 900 per kg, ivermectin from Rs 15,000 per kg to Rs 70,000 per kg, doxycycline from Rs 6,000 per kg to Rs 15,500 and azithromycin from Rs 8,500 to Rs 14,000 during the past some months. There are about 30 pharmaceutical companies in the city which collectively have annual turnover between Rs 700 to Rs 800 crore.

Amit Kapur, general secretary of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, Amritsar, said a sharp rise in the prices of raw materials unnerved manufacturers. Enquiries revealed that there was a staggering rise in the rate of active pharmaceuticals ingredients (API).

He demanded that the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Set up by the Ministry of Commerce) should step up efforts to restore medical supplies from China. “China’’s state-run Sichuan Airlines suspended all its cargo flights to India for 15 days from April 26 following a surge in Covid cases in India”, he said.

He held this trade imbalance between India and China for supplies of raw material of medicines to oversight of successive Indian governments to the pharma sector. He recalled that India used to be a world leader in production of at least API in the seventies.