Annoyed with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which has turned down the industry's plea for a suo-moto upward revision of prices of both formulations and bulk drugs, some of the pharma associations are gearing up to make a representation to the central ministers to apprise them of the problems being faced by the industry in the wake of unprecedented rise in prices of raw materials and intermediates.

According to sources, some of the pharma associations are planning to meet the chemicals minister Ramvilas Paswan, health minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss and finance minister P Chidambaram to apprise them of the latest developments in the industry. The delegation will demand the ministers to restrain the NPPA from interfering in the pharma pricing till the National Pharmaceutical Policy, which is under the active consideration of a Group of Ministers (GoM), is finalised.

The delegation will appraise the ministers about the consequences of the NPPA policy. If the situation continues for some more time, the industry will be left with no other option but to stop production as NPPA rules do not permit to have more than 10 per cent price increase in a year whereas the impact of most of the commonly used APIs has gone to the extent of 50 per cent, if not more. This will threaten the availability of even the commonly used medicines in the country, sources said.

The delegation will explain to the ministers the reasons for the industry's demand for a suo-moto upward revision of prices of both the formulations and bulk drugs. The delegation will also apprise the ministers about the attitude of the NPPA towards the just demands of the industry.

The industry's decision to seek the ministers' intervention comes in the wake of the NPPA's refusal to hike the prices of medicines. The industry argued that the NPPA did not take much time to reduce the prices of both formulations and bulk drugs on the basis of appreciation of rupee against US dollar and the low prices of raw materials and intermediates. But when the rupee depreciated and the prices of raw materials and intermediates went up substantially, the NPPA is looking away from the industry's demand for a suo-moto upward revision of prices of medicines.