According to this year's budget, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has directed pharmaceutical companies and marketing firms to modify the maximum retail price (MRP) of medications and formulations that are no longer liable to customs duty.
To maintain openness for dealers and regulators, the regulatory body instructed firms to publish a new pricing list reflecting the modifications in an office memorandum dated February 1. According to the memorandum, all producers and marketing companies that deal with the medications included in the notification are required to amend the MRP in reaction to the customs tax exemption or reduction.
Furthermore, the NPPA also emphasized that manufacturers must provide the updated pricing details and distribute a revised or supplemental price list detailing the changes to dealers, state drug regulators, and government agencies.
The Drugs (Price Control) Order, 2013 states that all applicable taxes and tariffs are included in the MRP of medications and formulations. In order to guarantee that customers take advantage of the duty exemptions, the NPPA stated that any decrease or elimination of such levies must be represented in the final pricing.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared in the Union Budget 2025 that 36 life-saving medications would be completely exempt from customs duties. This list contains the monoclonal antibody "mepolizumab," which is prescribed for severe asthma, "onasemnogene abeparvovec," which is used to treat spinal muscular atrophy in children, and "asciminib," which is used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia.
Union Budget 2025
For the development, upkeep, and improvement of the nation's healthcare system, the government has set aside Rs 99,858.56 crore in FY25–26, a 9.78% increase from Rs 90,958.63 crore in the previous fiscal year. Furthermore, Rs 2,445 crore has been set aside for the pharmaceutical industry's Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) program.
On February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the Union Budget for FY25–26. The Department of Health and Family Welfare has been allocated Rs 95,957.87 crore of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's overall budget, while the Department of Health Research has been given Rs 3,900.69 crore.
Budgetary funding for the healthcare industry has increased from Rs 34,286 crore to 191% during FY15. The Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PMABHIM) has been allocated Rs 4,200 crore, while the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) has been given Rs 9,406 crore.
In 2025–2026, FM Sitharaman announced intentions to open 200 childcare cancer centers. The goal is to establish daycare cancer facilities in every district hospital in the nation within the next three years.
