Will try to bring down drug prices by 25-40%: Ananth Kumar

Fertiliser and Chemicals Minister Ananth Kumar today said he will talk to pharmaceutical companies and try to bring down prices of essential drugs by 25-40 per cent.

Taking charge of the ministry, which has Department of Pharmaceuticals under its ambit, Kumar said the government is already working to bring down the prices of essential drugs by 25-40 per cent.

"... as far as branded medicines of multinational pharmaceutical companies are concerned, we will talk to all of them and try to bring down prices of essential drugs for poor by 25-40 per cent," Kumar said.

The pharmaceutical industry is very important for the health of the country, he added.

"Our main mission will be to ensure the availability of all necessary medicines at affordable prices, especially for poors across the country," Kumar said.

Last year, the government had notified the new drug pricing policy, bringing 348 formulations listed in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) under the price control regime.

Kumar has been elected for the sixth consecutive time as a Lok Sabha member from Bangalore South constituency. He has been Minister of Civil Aviation and Urban Development in the previous NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee.