Drug's price control saved Rs 11,463-cr of public: Govt

New Delhi: Hailing the people-centric decisions of the government, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh L Mandaviya said on Tuesday that fixation of ceiling prices of medicines has resulted in a saving of Rs 11,463 crore to the public after the implementation of the Drugs Prices Control Order 2013.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Mandaviya said that the decisions taken by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to control the drug prices has benefited a lot to the citizens as prices of all essential medicines have been curbed.

"Fixation of ceiling prices/MRP of medicines has resulted in a total saving of Rs 11,463 crore to the public after implementation of DPCO, 2013," Mandaviya to the House.

This includes the saving of Rs 4,547 crore on account of fixation of ceiling price of coronary stents (including re-fixation) and Rs 1,500 crore on account of price fixation of knee implants, he added.

Giving details, Mandaviya said, "Since May 2014 to February 2016, consumers saved Rs 2,422 crore under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2011. During the period from March 2016 to June 2018, public saved Rs 2,644 crore under NLEM (2015)."

A total saving of Rs 4,547 crore reported due to fixation of ceiling prices of coronary stents in February 2017, including re-fixation in February 2018.

People saved Rs 1,500 crore on account of fixation of the prices of knee implants in August 2017, the minister said, adding that consumers saved Rs 350 crore on account of fixation of prices of cardiac and anti-diabetic drugs in July 2014, under provisions of Para 19 of the DPCO 2013.

Till June 2018, the government has fixed the ceiling prices of 851 medicines, including 4 medical devices under revised schedule - I based on the National List of Essential Medicines, 2015 (NLEM, 2015), he added.