Centre offers tax sops to essential drugs
The department of chemicals and petrochemicals has recommended total exemption from excise and customs duties for some 354 essential drugs.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: The department of chemicals and petrochemicals has recommended total exemption from excise and customs duties for some 354 essential drugs. The ministry thinks that the tax waiver would bring down the prices of these drugs to the consumer. In fact, the finance ministry has been following the practice of giving tax concessions for ���life-saving drugs���for the last few years. Every year, a clutch of drugs was added to the exemption/concession list.
The department of chemicals now wants this process to be completed at one go. Therefore, it wants total tax waiver for the essential drugs. The department is also pitching for a reduction in the excise duty on all drugs from 16% to 8%. Now, MRP-based excise duty regime prevails in the pharma sector.
As these proposals come from the department that often makes noises about the need to expand price control on drugs, expunging the tax content in the price of essential medicines may be one thing that it could tenably pitch for. Pharma MNCs who import high value drugs from their overseas production facilities, have been lobbying for tax concessions in the last few years ��� sometimes successfully ��� promising that they would reduce the prices, if the demand was met.
The department of chemicals now wants this process to be completed at one go. Therefore, it wants total tax waiver for the essential drugs. The department is also pitching for a reduction in the excise duty on all drugs from 16% to 8%. Now, MRP-based excise duty regime prevails in the pharma sector.
As these proposals come from the department that often makes noises about the need to expand price control on drugs, expunging the tax content in the price of essential medicines may be one thing that it could tenably pitch for. Pharma MNCs who import high value drugs from their overseas production facilities, have been lobbying for tax concessions in the last few years ��� sometimes successfully ��� promising that they would reduce the prices, if the demand was met.
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