West Asia crisis | Domestic drug prices remain stable despite global volatility: Centre

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday said that despite global volatility caused by the West Asia conflict and disruptions in the supply of solvents and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), domestic drug prices have remained largely stable with no significant increase reported so far.

The measures taken by the government have helped maintain stability in the prices of medicines in the domestic market, Satyaprakash T L, Joint Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals, told media people.

The government has proactively stepped up supplies of critical petrochemical feedstock to the pharmaceutical industry to ensure uninterrupted production of essential medicines, amid strained global supply chains due to the ongoing conflict, he said.

Availability of intermediates used in medicines, such as Metformin and Aspirin, is being closely monitored, alongside inputs like morpholine, for which quality control norms have been temporarily relaxed to boost supply, he said.

Prior to the West Asia conflict, the pharmaceutical industry imported a bulk of its petrochemical feedstock, mostly in Kandla, Gujarat, from where the logistics chain took them to factories.

The war, however, has disrupted those imports, which are now being substituted by Indian refiners, tweaking production lines to make available specialised feedstock to the pharma sector.

Key inputs such as propylene, ammonia and methanol are being allocated on a pro-rata basis to meet industry requirements, he said.

Propylene, the most critical feedstock, is being supplied from domestic refiners, including Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, and used to produce intermediates, such as isopropyl alcohol and isobutyl benzene, for medicines like Ibuprofen, he said.

Ammonia supplies from the fertiliser sector remain stable, while methanol availability, earlier a concern, is being addressed through output from Assam Petrochemicals and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers & Chemicals.

To support the pharmaceutical industry and ensure continued availability of essential and life-saving medicines, the Department of Revenue has reduced customs duty to zero on 40 petrochemical products through a notification dated 1 April 2026, he said.

Constraints in aluminium used for packaging are easing and expected to normalise within a week, while supplies of LPG and high-speed diesel used in production processes remain adequate, the government said.