<p>Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday countered Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s charges on recent price hike on essential medicines, arguing that steps taken by the Centre a few months ago would offset the cost escalation that came into effect on April 1.</p>.<p>Mandaviya said fixing a new ceiling price on 651 formulation following a revision of the National List of Essential Medicine last year would essentially mean the price rise due to a new wholesale price index (WPI) would be counterbalanced by the average reduction in the valid ceiling prices of 651 essential medicines.</p>.<p>The saving for consumers, he claimed, would be around Rs 3,500 crore.</p>.<p>On Sunday, Kharge took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a hike in prices of essential medicines, saying he has taken “supari (contract)” to “pick pockets” of the people.</p>.<p><strong>Also read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/you-have-taken-supari-to-pick-pockets-of-people-kharge-slams-pm-over-essential-medicine-price-hike-1205992.html" target="_blank">You have taken 'supari' to 'pick pockets' of people: Kharge slams PM over essential medicine price hike</a></strong></p>.<p>The Congress president’s comment came after the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority allowed pharmaceutical companies to raise medicine prices by up to 12.2% from April 1, based on the change in the WPI.</p>.<p>In a series of tweets, Mandaviya responded to Kharge’s allegation explaining the price fixing mechanism while arguing that the impact of the WPI-related price increase would be far less as the ceiling prices of hundreds of formulations had already been lowered by the government.</p>.<p>The government controls the prices of some of the drugs through the Drugs Prices Control Order, 2013. Essential medicines or scheduled formulations have a maximum price limit called the ceiling price that can be increased each year based on the WPI rate set by the government.</p>.<p>For 2022, the WPI rate was set at 12.12%, allowing drug manufacturers to increase prices within this limit from April 1, 2023. However, in September 2022, the ministry of health and family welfare made changes to the NLEM, adding 870 medicines. Since these medicines were scheduled under DPCO, 2013, the NPPA began revising the valid ceiling prices of these drugs.</p>
<p>Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday countered Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s charges on recent price hike on essential medicines, arguing that steps taken by the Centre a few months ago would offset the cost escalation that came into effect on April 1.</p>.<p>Mandaviya said fixing a new ceiling price on 651 formulation following a revision of the National List of Essential Medicine last year would essentially mean the price rise due to a new wholesale price index (WPI) would be counterbalanced by the average reduction in the valid ceiling prices of 651 essential medicines.</p>.<p>The saving for consumers, he claimed, would be around Rs 3,500 crore.</p>.<p>On Sunday, Kharge took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a hike in prices of essential medicines, saying he has taken “supari (contract)” to “pick pockets” of the people.</p>.<p><strong>Also read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/you-have-taken-supari-to-pick-pockets-of-people-kharge-slams-pm-over-essential-medicine-price-hike-1205992.html" target="_blank">You have taken 'supari' to 'pick pockets' of people: Kharge slams PM over essential medicine price hike</a></strong></p>.<p>The Congress president’s comment came after the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority allowed pharmaceutical companies to raise medicine prices by up to 12.2% from April 1, based on the change in the WPI.</p>.<p>In a series of tweets, Mandaviya responded to Kharge’s allegation explaining the price fixing mechanism while arguing that the impact of the WPI-related price increase would be far less as the ceiling prices of hundreds of formulations had already been lowered by the government.</p>.<p>The government controls the prices of some of the drugs through the Drugs Prices Control Order, 2013. Essential medicines or scheduled formulations have a maximum price limit called the ceiling price that can be increased each year based on the WPI rate set by the government.</p>.<p>For 2022, the WPI rate was set at 12.12%, allowing drug manufacturers to increase prices within this limit from April 1, 2023. However, in September 2022, the ministry of health and family welfare made changes to the NLEM, adding 870 medicines. Since these medicines were scheduled under DPCO, 2013, the NPPA began revising the valid ceiling prices of these drugs.</p>
