Even as the inflation rate touched the highest point since 1995, making an across-the-board impact, the prices of drugs in the country have remained constant, largely due to the effective intervention by the monitoring authorities in general and the price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) in particular.
According to the official data with the pharmaceutical department, the Wholesale Price Index for 'drugs and medicines' remained almost constant at 0.25 per cent as on July 19, while the index for 'manufactured products' went up at 10.82 per cent and 'all commodities' index moved at 11.89 per cent.
The prices of drugs stood the same in the preceding week, ending on July 12, also at 0.25 per cent, while the rise in manufactured products was 10.72 per cent and all commodities index moved at 11.89 per cent, in comparison, official sources said. For the week ending on July 5 also, drug prices remained stable at 0.28 per cent against 10.79 per cent of manufactured products and 11.91 per cent of all commodities.
"The input materials costs have been on the rise for the last few months. If the prices of drugs did not go up, it was just because that the manufacturers have been imbibing the additional burden on them and were not passing on the same to the consumers. It has hence impacted the profits of drug manufacturers, though prices remained stable," responded an industry leader. The industry has been crying for some relief by way of allowing hike in prices of drugs due to the rising costs of input materials.
However, the sources at the Pharmaceutical Department termed it as major achievement of the government to hold the prices from shooting up along with other commodities. It was mainly because of a strong resolve on the part of the authorities, sources claimed.
The inflation rate in the country has been on an upward trend for many months now on a streak. It crossed 12 per cent mark recently, to hit a 13-year record. "The annual rate of inflation, calculated on point to point basis, stood at 12.01 per cent (Provisional) for the week ended July 26 (over 28/07/2007) as compared to 11.98 per cent (Provisional) for the previous week. The annual rate of inflation stood at 4.70 per cent as on July 28, 2007 that is a year ago," according to the latest statistics with commerce ministry.