NPPA directs pharma firms to update MRP after Budget 2025 duty exemptions

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority directs pharma firms to revise the MRP of medicines following customs duty exemptions in Union Budget 2025, ensuring consumers benefit from lower prices

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has instructed drug manufacturers and marketing firms to adjust the maximum retail price (MRP) of medicines and formulations that are no longer subject to customs duty, as per this year’s budget.  

 

In an office memorandum dated February 17, the regulatory body directed companies to release a revised price list reflecting the changes to ensure transparency for dealers and regulators, according to a report by The Economic Times. 

The memorandum said that all manufacturers and marketing firms dealing with the drugs specified in the notification must update the MRP in response to the reduction or exemption of customs duty.

   

Additionally, the NPPA emphasised that manufacturers must submit the revised pricing details and circulate an updated or supplementary price list to dealers, state drug regulators, and government authorities, outlining the modifications, the news report stated.

 

According to the Drugs (Price Control) Order, 2013, the MRP of drugs and formulations includes all applicable taxes and duties. Therefore, any reduction or removal of such levies must be reflected in the final pricing, ensuring consumers benefit from the duty exemptions, the NPPA noted.  

 

In the Union Budget 2025, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a full exemption from customs duty for 36 life-saving drugs.  This list includes ‘onasemnogene abeparvovec’, used for treating spinal muscular atrophy in children, ‘asciminib’ for chronic myeloid leukemia, and the monoclonal antibody ‘mepolizumab’ prescribed for severe asthma.  

 

Union Budget 2025

The government has earmarked Rs 99,858.56 crore for the development, maintenance, and enhancement of the country’s healthcare system in FY25-26, reflecting a 9.78 per cent rise from Rs 90,958.63 crore in the last financial year. Additionally, Rs 2,445 crore has been allocated for the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in the pharmaceutical sector.  

 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for FY25-26 on February 1.  

Out of the total allocation for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Rs 95,957.87 crore has been designated for the Department of Health and Family Welfare, while Rs 3,900.69 crore has been assigned to the Department of Health Research.  

 

Since FY15, budgetary support for the healthcare sector has surged by 191 per cent from Rs 34,286 crore. The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) has received Rs 9,406 crore, while Rs 4,200 crore has been set aside for the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PMABHIM).

 

FM Sitharaman announced plans to establish 200 daycare cancer centres in 2025-26. Over the next three years, efforts will be made to set up daycare cancer facilities in all district hospitals across the country.