509 essential drugs get cheaper: Govt

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has fixed the ceiling price of 509 essential medicines which led to a reduction in rates by above 40 per cent in case of 127 drugs, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

"NPPA has already fixed the ceiling price in respect of 509 essential medicines out of 680 medicines (628 net medicines) contained in the Schedule-1 of DPCO 2013," Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said in the Lok Sabha.

Out of 509 drugs, above 40 per cent price reduction has happened in the case of 127 essential medicines, while prices of 34 drugs has come down in the range of 35-40 per cent, he added.

Besides, the drug price regulator has reduced the prices of 30 drugs in the range of 30-35 per cent, 25-30 per cent for 57 drugs and between 20-25 per cent in case of 65 drugs.

Moreover, the price of 44 drugs has gone down by 15-20 per cent, 10-15 per cent in case of 55 drugs, between 5-10 per cent for 46 drugs and up to 5 per cent in case of 51 medicines, Ahir said.