Government caps trade margins at 30% for non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs, MRP cuts of up to 70% expected

Key facts

• The Centre has capped trade margins at 30% for all non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs, which could reduce maximum retail prices (MRPs) by up to 70% and save patients an estimated Rs 2,500 crore annually.
• The cap covers branded and generic, domestic and imported, patented and non-patented anti-cancer drugs outside the scheduled price-control framework.
• The move follows Supreme Court scrutiny; on September 29, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta questioned a drug supplied to retailers at around Rs 2,700 but sold at an MRP of Rs 27,000.
• The case is scheduled to come up again in the Supreme Court on October 12.
• The decision extends the Trade Margin Rationalisation (TMR) approach; in 2019, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) capped trade margins at 30% for 42 non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines, reducing MRPs of 526 brands by an average of around 50% with estimated annual savings of about Rs 984 crore.
• About 82% of drugs consumed in India are non-scheduled, and nearly 110 of them are for treating cancers; India reports over 15 lakh new cancer cases each year.
• As of March 2026, NPPA had effective ceiling prices for 131 anti-cancer drugs.