Breather for consumers as drug prices likely to remain same this year

In previous two years, hikes were in the range of 10-12%

Consumers are in for relief this year with prices of drugs in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) likely to remain unchanged due to a minuscule change in the wholesale price index (WPI). This would come after the price hikes allowed (in line with a change in WPI) in the previous two years were 12.12 per cent (2023) and 10.7 per cent (2022) respectively.

The prices of drugs in the NLEM are capped by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), and the annual price change allowed in this category is determined by the change in WPI over the