Under the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995 (DPCO, 1995) the prices of 74 bulk drugs as listed in its First Schedule and the formulations containing any of these scheduled drugs are controlled. There is no classification as essential medicines in the Drugs (Price Control) Order, 1995.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy, 2012 (NPPP-2012) has been notified on 7th December, 2012. As per provisions of NPPP-2012, all the medicines as specified under National List of Essential Medicines-2011 (NLEM-2011) shall be under price control. NLEM contains 614 formulations of specified strengths and dosage forms, spread over 27 therapeutic categories and satisfy the priority healthcare needs of majority of the population of the country.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers, Shri Srikant Kumar Jena in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
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