The Union Budget 2026–27 has delivered significant relief for cancer patients and their families, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing the removal of basic customs duty on 17 cancer-related drugs and medicines.
The move is aimed at making life-saving therapies more affordable, particularly for patients dependent on imported medicines for complex and advanced cancers.
Highlighting India’s shift towards non-communicable diseases like diabetes, Finance Minister @nsitharaman proposes Biopharma Shakti with an outlay of ₹10,000 crore over five years to develop India as a global biopharma manufacturing hub.@FinMinIndia @nsitharamanoffc pic.twitter.com/AWavz6SVUg
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Presenting the Budget in Parliament, Sitharaman said the customs duty exemption would directly help reduce the prices of critical oncology drugs.
Imported cancer medicines often attract basic customs duty, which significantly increases their final retail cost. By eliminating this levy, the government expects cost savings to be passed on to patients, easing one of the biggest financial burdens of cancer treatment.
Relief Extended to Rare Diseases
In addition to cancer drugs, the Finance Minister announced that seven more rare diseases will be brought under customs duty relief.
Under the proposal, personal imports of drugs, medicines and foods for special medical needs used to treat these rare diseases will be fully exempt from import duties. This is expected to benefit patients who rely on personalised or niche therapies that are not manufactured in India and are often imported on a named-patient basis.
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India has long faced the challenge of high cancer treatment costs, with imported medicines forming a major component of therapy for several cancers.
Health experts note that even small reductions in drug prices can result in substantial savings for families undergoing prolonged treatment. The customs duty exemption on 17 cancer-related drugs is therefore being seen as a step towards reducing catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure, especially for patients without comprehensive insurance coverage.
Drug List Yet to Be Disclosed
The government has not publicly released the full list of drugs covered under the exemption but clarified that they include widely used and high-cost cancer medicines.
Medicines for rare diseases, which often lack domestic manufacturing alternatives due to limited patient populations and high production costs, are also expected to benefit from lower landed prices under the new duty-free regime.
Balancing Self-Reliance and Patient Needs
Officials said the measure aligns with the government’s broader push for healthcare affordability, alongside efforts to strengthen domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing and rationalise customs duties where imports remain unavoidable.
By targeting essential cancer and rare disease medicines, the Budget seeks to balance the goal of self-reliance with immediate patient needs.
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Industry observers have welcomed the announcement, describing customs duty removal as one of the most direct policy tools to address medicine affordability in the short term.
However, experts cautioned that while drug prices may fall, overall cancer treatment costs—including hospitalisation, diagnostics and supportive care—remain high, highlighting the need for a broader healthcare financing strategy.
A Patient-Centric Budget Measure
Even so, the customs duty exemption on cancer drugs and the expansion of relief for rare diseases stand out as one of the most targeted, patient-centric measures in Budget 2026–27.
For thousands of families navigating cancer and rare disease treatment, the announcement offers the promise of tangible, though partial, financial relief at a time when healthcare costs continue to rise.
