Lok Sabha Question No. 3037 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-13
Subject: Use of Generic Medicines
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Shri Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3037 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 13 th  DECEMBER, 2024

## Use of Generic Medicines

## 3037. Shri Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  promoted  the  use  of  generic  medicines  through  the  Jan Aushadhi Kendras under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) to provide affordable healthcare options to citizens;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the details of the impact of these steps on healthcare affordability;
- (d) the number of beneficiaries under PM-JAY, State-wise along with the amount of out-ofpocket expenditure saved as a result of the scheme; and
- (e) whether the regulation of drug prices by the NPPA has helped in reducing the cost of critical medicines, particularly for chronic diseases and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS (SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)

(a)    to  (c): The  Government  launched  Pradhan  Mantri  Bhartiya  Janaushadhi  Pariyojana (PMBJP) with an objective of making quality generic medicines available at affordable prices to all. Under this scheme, dedicated outlets known as Jan Aushadhi Kendras (JAKs) are opened across the country to provide medicines at 50%-80% cheaper rates than branded medicines. A total of 14,320 JAKs have been opened across the country till 30.11.2024. Under PMBJP, 2047 types  of  medicines  and  300  surgicals/devices  have  been  brought  under  the  product  basket covering all major therapeutic groups such as Cardiovascular, Anti-cancers, Anti-diabetics, Anti-infectives, Anti-allergic, Gastro-intestinal medicines, Nutraceuticals, etc.

It is estimated that on a daily basis 10-12 lakhs consumers buy medicines from more than 14300 Jan Aushadhi Kendras spread across the country. In last 10 years, sales of medicines worth Rs. 6462.00 crore have been made through JAKs, which has led to estimated savings of Rs. 30,000 crore to the citizens as compared to the branded medicines.

(d):  As  informed  by  National  Health  Authority,  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri - Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) is a flagship scheme of the Government which provides health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to approximately 55 crore beneficiaries corresponding to 12.37 crore families constituting economically vulnerable bottom 40% of India's population. As on 30 th  November 2024, approximately 36 crore Ayushman Cards have been created under AB PM-JAY. Further, 8.39 crore hospital admissions worth over Rs. 1.16 lakh crore have been authorized  under  the  scheme.  The  cost  of  treatment  under  PM-JAY  benefits  from  the economies of scale and the concept of pre-defined bundled package rate.  Accordingly, it is estimated that if these treatments would have been availed by the beneficiaries in the open market, they would had spent at least 1.5-2 times more than the hospital admission costs under PM-JAY.  Thus,  there  has  been  significant  Out-of-Pocket-Expenditure  (OOPE)  saving  for beneficiaries related to hospitalization costs. State -wise number of eligible beneficiary families under AB PM-JAY is enclosed as Annexure.

(e): National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) under the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) fixes the ceiling price of medicines included in Schedule-I to the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO, 2013). The medicines under Schedule-I of DPCO 2013 are mentioned according to their therapeutic category. Critical medicines or medicines used for chronic diseases are not specifically mentioned in Schedule-I. All manufacturers of scheduled medicines  have  to  sell  their  products  within  the  ceiling  price  (plus  applicable  Goods  and Service Tax) fixed by the NPPA. In case of non-scheduled formulations, a manufacturer is at liberty to fix the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of the drugs launched by it. However, as per the DPCO 2013, no manufacturer can increase MRP of non-scheduled drug by more than 10% during preceding 12 months.

As on 11.12.2024, Ceiling Prices of 926 scheduled formulations have been fixed by NPPA  of  which  ceiling  prices  of  742  are  fixed/  refixed  under  National  List  of  Essential Medicines  (NLEM),  2022.    The  average  price  reduction  due  to  refixation  of  prices  under NLEM, 2022 is about 16.82%. Further, as on 11.12.2024, Retail Price of approx. 3,046 new drugs, as defined in DPCO 2013, have been fixed by NPPA for the applicant manufacturer. In addition,  the  NPPA  has  taken  other  measures  to  regulate  the  prices  of  drugs  using  special provisions under Para 19 of DPCO, 2013 which inter alia include the following:

- (i) In 2014, NPPA  capped  the  MRP  of  106  non-scheduled diabetic and cardiovascular drugs under Para 19 of DPCO 2013 which includes 22 diabetic and 84 cardiovascular drugs. This resulted in annual savings of Rs. 350 Crore approximately to the patients.
- (ii) Trade Margin of non-scheduled formulations of 42 select Anti-cancer medicines capped under 'Trade Margin Rationalization', wherein prices of above 500 brands of medicines were reduced by average around 50 percent. This resulted into annual saving of approximately Rs. 984 crore to the patients.
- (iii) As a patient centric measure, ceiling price of Orthopaedic Knee Implants were fixed in August 2017.
- (iv) Price  of  Oxygen  Concentrators,  Pulse  Oximeter,  Blood  Pressure  Monitoring Machine, Nebulizer, Digital Thermometer and Glucometer were capped under 'Trade Margin  Rationalization'  approach  in  June  2021  and  July  2021.  This  led  to  annual savings to the consumers of around Rs. 1000 crore.

The  details  of  prices  fixed  by  NPPA  is  available  on  the  website  of  NPPA  i.e. www.nppaindia.nic.in.

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (d) of the LOK SABHA UNSTARRED Q. NO. 3037 for answer on 13.12.2024

| State/UT- wise number of eligible families under AB PM-JAY   | State/UT- wise number of eligible families under AB PM-JAY   |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| Name of State/UT                                             | Number of Eligible Families                                  |
| Andaman And Nicobar Islands                                  | 23,785                                                       |
| Andhra Pradesh                                               | 61,47,562                                                    |
| Arunachal Pradesh                                            | 98,844                                                       |
| Assam                                                        | 30,03,069                                                    |
| Bihar                                                        | 1,21,10,525                                                  |
| Chandigarh                                                   | 79,226                                                       |
| Chhattisgarh                                                 | 41,44,847                                                    |
| DNH&DD                                                       | 47,578                                                       |
| Delhi                                                        | 6,54,041                                                     |
| Goa                                                          | 41,098                                                       |
| Gujarat                                                      | 49,85,484                                                    |
| Haryana                                                      | 17,24,837                                                    |
| Himachal Pradesh                                             | 5,32,396                                                     |
| Jammu And Kashmir                                            | 6,70,010                                                     |
| Jharkhand                                                    | 31,18,620                                                    |
| Karnataka                                                    | 69,01,440                                                    |
| Kerala                                                       | 23,97,610                                                    |
| Ladakh                                                       | 12,120                                                       |
| Lakshadweep                                                  | 1,628                                                        |
| Madhya Pradesh                                               | 93,27,963                                                    |
| Maharashtra                                                  | 93,05,910                                                    |
| Manipur                                                      | 3,07,908                                                     |
| Meghalaya                                                    | 3,85,708                                                     |
| Mizoram                                                      | 2,16,584                                                     |
| Odisha                                                       | 67,80,308                                                    |
| Nagaland                                                     | 2,59,468                                                     |
| Puducherry                                                   | 1,14,968                                                     |
| Punjab                                                       | 16,65,113                                                    |
| Rajasthan                                                    | 66,37,371                                                    |
| Sikkim                                                       | 44,228                                                       |
| Tamil Nadu                                                   | 86,48,748                                                    |
| Telangana                                                    | 29,02,621                                                    |
| Tripura                                                      | 5,49,554                                                     |
| Uttar Pradesh                                                | 1,31,23,662                                                  |
| Uttarakhand                                                  | 5,97,682                                                     |
| West Bengal                                                  | 1,24,37,482                                                  |

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