'Cost of 651 essential medicines to come down': Health minister Mandaviya hits back at Congress chief Kharge

NEW DELHI: Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said the Centre has so far notified new ceiling prices of 651 out of 870 essential medicines, which will save consumers an estimated "Rs 3,500 crore annually".

Mandaviya was reacting to a swipe by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a reported hike in prices of some essential medicines.
On Sunday, Kharge said the PM has taken "supari (contract)" to "pick pockets" of the people -- in reference to a dig by PM Modi that some people are "hell-bent" on sullying his image and they have given a "supari" for this purpose.
'Prices down by average 6.7%'
In a tweet on Monday, the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA) said cost of 651 essential medicines has come down by an average of 6.73% from April with the government capping ceiling prices of a majority of the scheduled drugs listed under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).

The NPPA further noted that with the capping of ceiling prices, the cost of the 651 essential drugs on an average had already come down by 16.62%.
"Due to this, the price of 651 essential drugs, which was to go up by 12.12%, has actually come down by 6.73% from April 1," NPPA said.
Consumers will benefit from this decline in prices despite a 12.12% annual hike in prices of drugs based on WPI, it added.
How prices are fixed
Annual hikes in prices of drugs listed in the NLEM are based on WPI.

In a statement dated March 25, NPPA had stated that the annual change in Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was 12.12% for 2022.
NPPA fixes the ceiling price of essential medicines of Schedule I under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO) 2013.
The calculation for essential drugs is based on the simple average of all the medicines in a particular therapeutic segment with sales of more than 1%.
Mandaviya takes potshot at UPA govt
Rebutting Kharge's claims in a series of tweet, Mandaviya said that according to the provisions of DPCO, 2013 made by the UPA government, every year the pharma companies increase or decrease the prices of medicines according to the WPI.
The companies can increase the price of medicines from April 1, 2023, to the extent of 12.12% of the ceiling price linked to WPI, he added.
The Janaushadhi Abhiyan being run under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led to a huge intervention on the supply side thereby creating competition in the market which deters companies from hiking prices, Mandaviya said.
The minister also asserted that even if the companies were to increase the full price, an average reduction of 6.73% is estimated due to the capping of the ceiling prices by the government.
(With inputs from agencies)