Union budget: Full customs duty exemption for 36 life-saving medicines
Six other drugs will have a concessional customs duty of 5% as part of efforts to increase accessibility of expensive advanced medicines for a larger section of patients
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced a full customs duty exemption for 36 life-saving medicines for cancer and rare and chronic diseases. Six other drugs will have a concessional customs duty of 5% as part of efforts to increase accessibility to expensive advanced medicines for a larger section of patients.
“To provide relief to patients, particularly those suffering from cancer, rare diseases, and other severe chronic diseases, I propose to add 36 lifesaving drugs and medicines to the list of medicines fully exempted from Basic Customs Duty... I also propose to add six lifesaving medicines to the list attracting concessional customs duty of 5%,” she in her budget speech.
The exempted drugs include Tepotinib for non-small cell lung cancer, Avelumab, a monoclonal antibody for certain types of cancer, Asciminib (white blood cell cancer), Alglucosidase Alfa (Pompe disease), and Mepolizumab (severe asthma).
Sitharaman said that specified drugs and medicines under the Patient Assistance Programmes of pharmaceutical companies are fully exempt from Basic Customs Duty provided they are supplied free of cost to patients. “I propose to add 37 more medicines along with 13 new patient assistance programmes,” she said.
Sitharaman announced full exemption and concessional duty on the bulk drugs. She said the government would facilitate the setting up of day-care cancer centres at all district hospitals over the next three years. As many as 200 of the centres will be established in 2025-26.
CK Birla Hospital (Delhi) surgical oncology director Dr Mandeep Singh Malhotra said first-line chemotherapy can be effectively administered at well-equipped day-care centres with proper training and support. “This approach will help manage a substantial portion of the country’s cancer load. ...patients with haematological malignancies, paediatric cancers, or recurrent cancers require specialised facilities with advanced backup support. These cases should continue to be treated in dedicated cancer care centres.” Malhotra cited the experience of working with charitable organisations and helping develop a chemotherapy day-care centre at a gurdwara and said he can confidently say that this will greatly benefit cancer patients.
According to the National Cancer Registry Programme, cancer cases are projected to increase from 1.46 million in 2022 to 1.57 million in 2025. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has estimated cancer cases in India (13,24,413) were the third highest after China (45,68,754) and the United States of America (22,81,658).
The Union health ministry has been screening the general population for common breast, cervix, and oral cancers to ensure timely treatment.
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry Health Services Committee chair Harsh Mahajan said the exemption for 36 life-saving drugs from basic customs duty, along with the concessional 5% duty on six additional medicines, will make critical treatments more affordable for patients suffering from cancer, rare diseases, and chronic conditions. “...the inclusion of 37 additional medicines and 13 new patient assistance programmes will further ease the financial burden on patients,” said Mahajan, who is also the founder of Mahajan Imaging & Labs.
Bangalore Hospitals CEO Lahari Surapaneni said bulk drug import and patient assistance programme exemption expansion was a strategic measure awaiting India’s pharmaceutical ecosystem development. “Further supporting these measures is essential investment in infrastructure, medical research, and preventive health care. We would welcome further measures that support domestic manufacturing and innovation.”
