New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister J P Nadda on Tuesday highlighted there are 18,646 Jan Aushadhi Kendras across the country that provide generic medicines to people at affordable prices.
Replying to supplementary queries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, the minister said that Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana was launched in 2008 by the UPA government but rued that only 80 Jan Aushadhi Kendras were opened till 2014.
Nadda said the scheme has taken off in a big way under the Modi-government.
As on February 28, 2026, he said there are 18,646 Jan Aushadhi Kendras across the country.
Out of these, as many as 2,370 Jan Aushadhi Kendras have been opened in government hospitals to provide medicines at rates that are about 50-80 per cent cheaper than those of branded medicines.
"The product basket under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojna has 2,110 medicines and 315 surgical, medical consumables and devices, covering all major therapeutic groups, such as cardiovascular, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-infectives, anti-allergic and gastro-intestinal medicines and nutraceuticals," Nadda said in a written reply.
Almost all generic medicines included in the National List of Essential Medicines, except lab reagents and vaccines, are part of the product basket, he added.
To ensure accessibility and availability of medicines at Jan Aushadhi Kendras, Nadda informed that there is an end-to-end information-technology-enabled supply chain system, consisting of five warehouses and 41 distributors across the country.
As per information provided by Ministry of Health, the government has rolled out the Free Drugs Service Initiative (FDSI) under National Health Mission (NHM) to ensure availability of essential drugs and reduce the Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) of the patients visiting the public health facilities.
Under this, financial support is provided to States / Union Territories for provision of free essential medicines in public health facilities based on the requirements posed by them in their Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) within their overall resource envelope.