Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced exemption on 36 life-saving drugs from Basic Customs Duty (BCD), in her budget 2025 address in the Parliament.
These drugs include essential medicines used to treat cancer and other rare diseases.
“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 (BCD). I also propose to add 6 lifesaving medicines to the list attracting concessional customs duty of 5 percent. Full exemption and concessional duty will also respectively apply on the bulk drugs for manufacture of the above,” the Finance Minister.
She further stated, “Our Government will facilitate setting up of Day Care Cancer Centres in all district hospitals in the next three years. 200 Centres will be established in 2025-26.”
The minister also specified drugs and medicines under Patient Assistance Programmes run by pharmaceutical companies are fully exempt from BCD, provided the medicines are supplied free of cost to patients.
“I propose to add 37 more medicines along with 13 new patient assistance programmes,” she added.
In July last year, after the Lok Sabha elections, the Health Ministry was allocated INR 90958.63 crore in the Union Budget 2024-25. The Ministry has witnessed a hike of 12.9 per cent over 80,517.62 crore in the Budget (revised estimates) for 2023-2024
