NPPA announces price hike in 800 essential drugs

The National Pharma Pricing Authority (NPPA) has announced close to 11 percent price hike of over 800 drugs which are under price control basically from April 1.

Companies are allowed to hike prices, which are in wholesale price index (WPI) inflation and the annual change for the WPI inflation for 2021 was around 10.8 percent. So it was expected that the NPPA could hike prices to this tune.

This hike will cover products, which are around 17-18 percent of value of the $25 billion Indian pharma market. This is the highest price hike for drugs, which are under price control or the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) since the revised policy was introduced in 2013. This NPPA price hike of close to 11 percent compares to half a percent to over 4 percent of price hikes taken earlier.