In anticipation of the proposed National Pharmaceutical Policy and the already announced Central Drug Authority (CDA), the budget for the next fiscal has substantially increased the allocation for the Health and Family Welfare Ministry, giving it more leg space and funds to steer the health and pharma programmes ahead.

With the allocation hiked from Rs 12545.88 crore (Rs 11366 crore - revised) of the previous year to Rs 15291 crore for the next fiscal, the Ministry will have more funds to spend for measures like formation of the CDA, which will take at least five years to be in place fully.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), however, got lesser funds at Rs 13.90 crore against Rs 20.26 crore during 2006-07. Rs 18 crore was earmarked for manufacturing of sera and vaccines against Rs 15.27 crore in the previous budget.

On the other hand, the allocation for the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals showed no major hike. The outlay stood at Rs 257 crore against Rs 169.40 crore of the previous year, sending signals of the shift of focus from chemical ministry to the health ministry. However, the revised allocation for the last budget stood at Rs 587.31.

At the same time, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which may play a major role in the new scheme of things under the new policy having control over more drugs, got a hike in the budget allocation. It will have Rs 17.41 crore at its disposal this time against Rs 7.35 crore (Rs 6.34 cr revised) during the 2006-07 term.

The plan outlay of the Department of witnessed a steady increase in allocation over the last three years. The total outlay this time is Rs 13875 crore (health - Rs 2982.50 crore, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) - Rs 10890 crore), inclusive of Rs 1387.50 crore for the North Eastern Region and Sikkim. The outlay went up by 2570 crore over the previous year. The Ayush department will get Rs 488 crore next year in comparison to Rs 383 crore of 2006-07. Out of the total allocation for NRHM, Ayush segment would have Rs 120 crore.

The allocation for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare increased from Rs 7481 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 9682 crore in 2005-06. It rose to Rs 12545.88 crore next year. However, in the all the past years, the Ministry could not utilize the entire allocation with the revised amount reading at Rs 8831.23 crore in 2005-06 and Rs 11366 crore in 2006-07.

The outlay for Chemicals and Petrochemicals rose from Rs 106.10 crore (2005-06) to Rs 169.40 crore (2006-07) and this time to Rs 257 crore, registering a marginal increase. The revised outlay for the year of 2006-07, however, stood at Rs 587.31 crore.