Over 900 Essential Medicines Become Costlier from April 1 – Price Hike on Antibiotics, Diabetes Medication

From April 1, 2025, several new rules have come into effect, bringing both relief and financial strain for consumers. One of the significant changes includes an increase in medicine prices. Over 900 essential medicines have become more expensive, meaning consumers will now have to pay more for their regular prescriptions.

Medicine Price Hike: What You Need to Know

If you rely on medicines for infections, diabetes, heart disease, or pain relief, be prepared to spend more. The prices of essential drugs have increased by 1.74% from today. These price adjustments are determined by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which revises them annually based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) of the previous year.

The affected medicines are part of the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) and include anesthetics, allergy medications, neurological disorder treatments, heart disease drugs, and commonly used medicines like paracetamol, azithromycin, anemia treatments, and vitamins.

Which Medicines Have Become Costlier?

• Azithromycin (Antibiotic): 250 mg tablet now costs ₹11.87, while the 500 mg tablet is priced at ₹23.98.

• Antibacterial Syrup: Amoxicillin and Clavulanic Acid dry syrup will cost ₹2.09 per ml.

• Acyclovir (Antiviral): 200 mg tablet now costs ₹7.74, and the 400 mg version is ₹13.90.

• Hydroxychloroquine (Malaria Drug): 200 mg tablet is now priced at ₹6.47, while the 400 mg tablet costs ₹14.04.

• Diclofenac (Pain Reliever): The price per tablet is now ₹2.09.

• Ibuprofen: 200 mg tablet costs ₹0.72, and the 400 mg tablet is now ₹1.22.

• Diabetes Medication: A combination of Dapagliflozin, Metformin, and Glimepiride will now cost ₹12.74 per tablet.

Price Increase in Stents

Apart from medicines, the cost of stents used in angioplasty and other medical procedures has also risen. The new price for bare-metal stents is ₹10,692.69, while drug-eluting stents will now cost ₹38,933.14.

New Prices Effective from April 1

According to NPPA's notification, under Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013, Paragraph 16(2), pharmaceutical companies can increase prices based on WPI without prior government approval. The revised prices have officially come into effect from April 1, and NPPA is expected to release a complete list of the new prices soon.