The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has revised the ceiling prices of eight scheduled drugs to meet the twin objectives of availability and affordability. It has approved an increase in the ceiling prices of these drugs by 50 per cent of their current ceiling prices.

Most of these drugs are low-cost and generally used as first-line treatment crucial to the public health programmes of the country. These drugs are used for the treatment of Asthma, Glaucoma, Thalassemia, Tuberculosis, mental health disorders, etc.

NPPA has been receiving applications from the manufacturers for upward revision of prices citing various reasons like increased cost of active pharmaceutical Ingredients, increase in the cost of production, and change in exchange rate among others.