Companies that make stents can revise their prices by 1.74 per cent, in line with the wholesale price index (WPI), from April 1, according to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).

A stent is a thin wire-like mesh used to remove blockages in the arteries, usually in the heart.

The ceiling price on bare-metal stents has been revised to ₹10,692.69 and a drug-eluting stent, including bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS)/ biodegradable stent, has been pegged at ₹38,933.14.

All the existing manufacturers/importers of coronary stents having MRP lower than the ceiling price, plus Goods and Services Taxes as applicable, if any, may revise the existing MRP of coronary stent, on the basis of WPI at 1.74028 per cent for the year 2024 over 2023 in accordance with DPCO (Drugs (Prices Control) Order), 2013, the NPPA said.  

“The manufacturers not complying with the ceiling price and notes specified hereinabove shall be liable to deposit the overcharged amount along with interest thereon under the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 read with Essential Commodities Act, 1955,” it added.

This comes on the heels of the NPPA’s annual exercise of allowing a WPI-linked price revision on medicines in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), also from April 1. This would cover an array of medicines including antibiotics, anti-virals, pain killers, diabetes medicines etc, made by local and multinational companies. Medicines not listed under NLEM are allowed an annual increase of up to 10 per cent.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Anupriya Patel said, the NPPA, under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, had fixed the ceiling prices of 928 scheduled formulations on March 25, 2025. The ceiling prices of scheduled medicines are revised annually based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) (all commodities), she said.

“The ceiling prices of scheduled medicines for the financial year 2024-25 were increased by 0.00551 per cent with effect from 1.4.2024, based on annual change in WPI (all commodities),” according to an official note, citing her reply. “NPPA also fixes the retail price of new drugs, as defined in paragraph 2(1)(u) of DPCO, 2013. NPPA has notified around 3,200 retail prices under DPCO, 2013 till 25.3.2025.”





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