India Pharma Outlook Team | Friday, 24 January 2025
The Indian pharmaceutical and healthcare sector holds significant hopes for the forthcoming Union Budget 2025, as stated in a report by CareEdge Ratings. The industry is requesting greater government assistance to enhance infrastructure and promote innovation.
The report underscored the necessity for a 2.50 per cent-3 per cent increase in healthcare budget funding relative to last year, stressing that the extra money should target improving healthcare infrastructure, especially in rural and semi-urban regions.
It said "Increase healthcare budget allocation by 2.50 per cent-3 per cent over last year to enhance infrastructure in rural and semi-urban regions".
To enhance research and development (R&D) in the pharmaceutical industry, the sector is advocating for the reinstatement of weighted average tax incentives. This measure, which was available before, is anticipated to encourage innovation and progress in vital therapeutic fields.
The report additionally emphasized the importance of making healthcare services and insurance less expensive. It suggests lowering the GST rate on health insurance premiums from the current 18 percent and raising the health insurance premium deduction cap under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act.
To assist pharmaceutical R&D firms, the sector recommends broadening Section 115BAB, which provides reduced tax rates. Moreover, raising the budget allocation for the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme is regarded as essential for promoting domestic manufacturing of pharmaceutical products and medical devices.
, CDSCO.jpg)
