A Ministers panel, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, has finalised the pharma pricing policy under which 348 essential drugs will come under price control of the government. This has been done to make the essential drugs more affordable as earlier these drugs were very costly in the market.

Talking to reporters after the meeting in New Delhi, Sharad Pawar said that the Group of Ministers, GoM will be sending their recommendations to the Cabinet within a week for approval to bring drugs in National List of Essential Medicines NLEM.

At present, the government through the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), controls prices of 74 bulk drugs and their formulations.

Fertilisers and Chemicals Minister Srikant Jena said the there was consensus for the inclusion of 348 drugs in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).

The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh constituted the GoM after the health ministry opposed the market based pricing mechanism. Experts described the move as the fast step towards making the drug affordable and said it will ensure both access and availability of essential medicines.