The decision aims to ease the burden on families who depend on imported medicines that are either not manufactured in India or are priced beyond the reach of many patients.

Dr Kalpana, director, Adyar Cancer Institute, told DT Next that the high cost of several cancer drugs had made treatment difficult, particularly for patients from low-income groups. She said many of these medicines were not covered under government insurance schemes, forcing patients to spend well beyond their income. Waiving customs duty on these drugs would help patients complete their treatment and improve survival outcomes, she added.

In addition, drugs used for seven more rare diseases will now be eligible for customs duty exemption when imported for personal use. This is expected to ease the financial burden on families that depend on costly imported therapies.

The rare diseases include lysosomal storage disorders, Mucopolysaccharidosis, spinal muscular atrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Wolman disease, hypophosphatasia, neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, cystic fibrosis and atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome.