New Delhi: To provide relief to the cancer patients, the Government of India (GoI) has reduced the custom duty to nil on three anti-cancer drugs leading to reduction of the maximum retail price (MRP) on these drugs.
As per official communication, the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance has issued notification in this regard.
This measure is line with the Government’s commitment to ensure the availability of drugs at affordable prices. For this, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has on October 28, 2024 directed the manufacturers to reduce the MRP on three anti-cancer drugs, Trastuzumab, Osimertinib and Durvalumab.
This is in pursuance to the announcement made in the Union Budget for the year 2024-25 exempting these three anti-cancer medicines from customs duty.
Further, the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance has notified the reduction in GST Rates from 12% to 5% with effect from October 10, 2024 on these three drugs. Accordingly, the reduction in the MRP of these drugs in the market and benefits of reduced taxes and duties should be passed on to the consumers. Hence, the NPPA has directed all the manufacturers of above-mentioned drugs to reduce their MRP
