New Delhi, March 24 Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister J P Nadda highlighted on Tuesday that there are 18,646 Jan Aushadhi Kendras across the country that provide affordable generic medicines to people.
Responding to supplementary queries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, the minister said that the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana was launched in 2008 by the UPA government but regretted that only 80 Jan Aushadhi Kendras were opened till 2014.
Nadda said that the scheme has gained significant momentum under the Modi government.
As of February 28, 2026, he said that there are 18,646 Jan Aushadhi Kendras across the country.
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 Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojna includes 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 a comprehensive information-technology-enabled supply chain system, consisting of five warehouses and 41 distributors across the country.
According to information provided by the Ministry of Health, the government has launched the Free Drugs Service Initiative (FDSI) under the National Health Mission (NHM) to ensure the availability of essential drugs and reduce the Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) of patients visiting public health facilities.
Under this, financial support is provided to States/Union Territories for the provision of free essential medicines in public health facilities based on the requirements they pose in their Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) within their overall resource envelope.
