Janaushadhi Kendras to put pressure on retail medicine market trade margins: Pharma secretry Arunish Chawla
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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: Robust sales growth recorded by the Indian government’s generic pharmacy model will put pressure on trade margins in the retail medicine market because of the affordability and quality of the drugs sold, a top official said. The quality certified generic medicines sold at kendras (centres) operating under the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) help to moderate the prices of medicines and create a benchmarking effect, Arunish Chawla, secretary of the Department of Pharmaceuticals, said in an interview toMint.
The PMBJP is the flagship scheme of the Department of Pharmaceuticals under which quality and affordable generic medicines are made available to citizens at Janaushadhi Kendras. The scheme, implemented by the Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI), is intended to reduce the medical expenses of consumers/patients and popularise generic drugs. Chawla said the sales target of ₹2,000 crore for the Janaushadhi Kendras will likely be exceeded this year, given the 40% annual growth.
“The target of ₹2,000 crore of actual sales, which means its value in the open-market equivalent is ₹10,000 crore, is likely to be exceeded. The Janaushadhi kendras are expanding their reach within the country. The prime minister inaugurated the 10,000th kendra in November last year and we have already crossed 14,000 kendras.
By the end of this year, we will reach the target of 15,000. Our year-on-year growth is 40% and now we are going global," said Chawla, who is the chairperson of the PMBI. The overseas expansion of the scheme comes as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Ghana, Suriname, Nicaragua, Mozambique, and the Solomon Islands recognised Indian standards for
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