GST cut on essential medicines in India: Impact, benefits
Big update: As of September 22, India has cut GST on essential medicines from 12% to 5%, and made 36 life-saving drugs totally tax-free.
This is set to ease medical expenses for people dealing with chronic illnesses like cancer or rare diseases.
The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance notes that "lower medicine costs will deliver tangible financial relief to patients across all socio-economic groups—from middle-class families to chronic care patients and senior citizens," making access to crucial treatments a bit fairer for everyone.
Patients to save big, local manufacturing encouraged
Patients with rare diseases are already saving big—like those needing enzyme replacement therapy for Fabry disease, who can now save nearly ₹20 lakh each year.
Breast cancer treatment costs have dropped by around ₹4 lakh too.
These changes also encourage more local manufacturing of important medicines, helping India's push for self-reliance and giving the pharma industry extra room to invest in research and development.