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A senior official in India’s Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers said there has been no major rise in prices of pharmaceutical drugs despite the West Asia war impacting global supply chains of some essential inputs, particularly solvents and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).The Centre has taken note of the disruptions and devising strategies to meet the challenges, Joint Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals Satyaprakash T. L. said, adding propylene, ammonia and methanol were the key solvents the pharmaceutical industry needs and whose supplies have been affected. Butanol is needed in smaller quantities for certain antibiotics. Propylene remains the most critical input since it is used in Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) and Isobutyl Benzene production, which are used in medicines such as Ibuprofen. A significant share of propylene supply is being met through BPCL’s Kochi and Mumbai refineries and supplied to major manufacturers of Isopropyl Alcohol.Uninterrupted supplyThe Ministry and the Department are working in coordination with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to ensure uninterrupted availability of essential inputs for pharmaceutical manufacturing, the official said at an inter-ministerial briefing.With methanol supply emerging as an area of concern, Assam Petrochemicals and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC) agreed to supply adequate quantities.Availability of methylated ammonium products, used as intermediates for medicines, is being closely monitored, he said.Supplies of aluminium meant for pharmaceutical packaging had faced constraints. Restoration of the supply is “underway” and expected to normalise within a week. Supplies of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and diesel required for ampoule and vial sealing are being closely monitored. “Pharmaceutical units are presently not facing shortages,” he said.The quality control order for Morpholine, an important input used in the manufacture of several life-saving drugs, has been suspended, the government said in a statement.Thursday’s announcement assumes significance for the pharma industry amid growing concern around continued access to inputs. The Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) last month had twice asked members to furnish details of war’s impact amid what it said was a “significant volatility” in prices and supply of key solvents and chemical inputs.“This is likely to have a direct bearing on production costs, supply chains and export competitiveness of the pharmaceutical sector,” the pharma exporters body had said.Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal told the Chintan Shivir in Hyderabad last week that the West Asia crisis definitely does impact energy supply chain and concomitantly some impact is coming to pharma sector in terms of some of the intermediates and some solvents. “We will try to alleviate some of the pain in every [industrial] sector... pharmaceutical is one of the priority sectors,” he had said. Published - April 09, 2026 09:25 pm IST
