Pfizer India CFO Milind Patil hopes that the Union Budget further increases focus on healthcare

By Milind Patil, Regional Finance Lead, Executive Director & CFO, Pfizer India

“The Union Budget for 2022-23 can build on the momentum seen in the last budget and further increase the focus on healthcare, with emphasis on increasing affordability and access to life-saving medicines whilst also encouraging innovation in this vital sector. The Ayushman Bharat healthcare program should allow for greater inclusion of innovative medicines, particularly life-saving cancer therapies. In order to improve affordability for those in low and middle-income groups, tiered pricing can be institutionalized. Moreover, the government should reintroduce weighted tax deduction for in-house R&D and provide incentives for digitalization and innovation by pharmaceutical companies.

In this year’s budget, we hope the government will rationalize the GST rates, in order to enable reduced cost of treatments for patients. Since it is planning to merge the GST rates of 12% and 18%, the pharmaceutical products – a majority of which are charged at 12%, while some are charged at 5% – should be taxed at a single merit rate of 5%. This will reduce the burden of healthcare costs on the middle-income group and help improve affordability. It will also support the government in its various health schemes and reduce potential classification disputes.”