Supreme Court seeks review of drug pricing policy

The Supreme Court has asked the federal government to re-examine its pricing policy for essential medicines, the Times of India reported on Thursday.

The court has asked the country's chemicals and fertilisers ministry to explain why the prices of essential and life-saving drugs are fixed at a high level, putting them out of reach of the country's poor, the newspaper said, citing a court hearing on Wednesday.

The Indian government currently caps the prices of more than 500 essential medicines, but a parliamentary committee said in April that the scope of price control needed to be expanded even further to make all the drugs available in the country more affordable.

Wide-ranging price cuts have hit both local and foreign drugmakers in India and have been opposed by many in the industry, who have said drug prices in the country are already among the lowest in the world.

Pinky Anand, a law officer for the government, told the court that the government would look into the matter and take corrective measures, if required, the Times of India said.