Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a full customs duty exemption for 36 life-saving medicines for cancer and rare and chronic diseases during her Union Budget 2025-26 address in the Parliament on Saturday, 1 February. She also announced that six other drugs will have a concessional customs duty of 5 percent as part of efforts to increase accessibility to expensive advanced medicines for a larger section of patients.

Below is the List of exempted drugs:

Tepotinib for non-small cell lung cancer
Avelumab, a monoclonal antibody for certain types of cancer
Asciminib for white blood cell cancer
Alglucosidase Alfa for Pompe disease
Mepolizumab for severe asthma
Onasemnogene abeparvovec
Pegylated Liposomal Irinotecan
Daratumumab
Daratumumab subcutaneous
Teclistamab
Amivantamab
Alectinib
Risdiplam
Obinutuzumab
Polatuzumab vedotin
Entrectinib
Atezolizumab
Spesolimab
Velaglucerase Alpha
Agalsidase Alfa
Rurioctocog Alphas Pegol
Idursulfase
Alglucosidase Alfa
Laronidase
Olipudase Alfa
Tepotinib
Avelumab
Emicizumab
Belumosudil
Miglustat
Velmanase Alfa
Alirocumab
Evolocumab
Cystamine Bitartrate
CI-Inhibitor injection
Inclisiran
Agalsidase Beta
Imiglucerase
Eptacog alfa activated recombinant coagulation factor VIIa

Link to the Article

Beyond tax exemptions: Rare disease patients await comprehensive policy support