India, April 1 -- The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has announced an increase in the prices of over 900 essential drugs, up to 1.74 per cent, from April 1. The list includes medicines for critical infections, heart diseases, and diabetes.

"Further, as per provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO, 2013), these ceiling prices of scheduled medicines are revised annually based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) (all commodities). The ceiling prices of scheduled medicines for the financial year 2024-25 were increased by 0.00551 per cent with effect from 1.4.2024, based on annual change in WPI (all commodities). NPPA also fixes the retail price of new drugs, as defined in paragraph 2(1)(u) of DPCO, 2013," s...