GST launch at midnight: No change in cost of 78% of actively used drugs

GST rate of 12% on most essential drugs as against current tax of around 9%

Drug pricing regulator NPPA today said prices of around 78 per cent of 'actively used' drugs will remain unaffected after the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from midnight tonight.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has already announced provisional ceiling prices of 761 medicines, including anti-cancer, HIV, diabetes and antibiotics, with a majority being reduced ahead of the GST implementation.

These prices will be notified as formal revised ceiling prices immediately after GST notification, NPPA had said in a memorandum earlier this week.

"Prices of approximately 78 per cent of all actively used and traded drugs in the country are going to remain unaffected post GST", NPPA said in a tweet today.

It had earlier indicated that the prices of a majority of essential drugs would increase by up to 2.29 per cent when the GST regime kicks in.

The government has fixed GST rate of 12 per cent on most of the essential drugs as against the current tax incidence of around 9 per cent.

"I am confident that GST implementation will be by and large smooth and will not cause any major disruption in the availability of drugs in the country," NPPA Chairman Bhupendra Singh had earlier told PTI.