Union Budget 2026: 24 cancer, rare disease medicines to become cheaper

As part of efforts to ease the cost burden on patients, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced customs duty relief on medicines used in the treatment of cancer and rare diseases, a move that will make 24 such drugs cheaper.

Presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament, Sitharaman said the government will rationalise customs duties on goods imported for personal use and provide targeted relief to patients suffering from serious ailments.

“To rationalise the customs duty structure for goods imported for personal use, I propose to reduce the tariff rate on all dutiable goods imported for personal use from 20% to 10%,” she said.

The finance minister proposed a complete exemption from basic customs duty on 17 drugs or medicines used by cancer patients.

Sitharaman said seven more rare diseases will be added to the list eligible for exemption of import duties on personal imports of drugs, medicines and Food for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP) required for their treatment.

The measures are seen as an attempt at lowering treatment costs for patients who often depend on imported medicines for life-threatening conditions.

What happened in Budget 2025?

In Budget 2025, the government had allocated ₹99,858.56 crore for the health sector, about 10 per cent higher than the ₹90,958.63 crore earmarked in the previous fiscal.

The flagship Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY) received an allocation of ₹9,406 crore, while ₹37,226.92 crore was provided to the National Health Mission to strengthen rural health infrastructure, primary healthcare services and disease control programmes.

The flagship Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY) received an allocation of ₹9,406 crore. The government allocated ₹37,226.92 crore to the National Health Mission (NHM) for rural health infrastructure, primary healthcare services and disease control programs.

The allocations under the PLI scheme stood at ₹2,445 crore with a focus on encouraging domestic production of medicines. Customs duty on 36 life-saving drugs, along with six others, at concessional rates, was fully waived and the NPPA instructed manufacturers to pass these savings to patients.

To expand access for vulnerable groups, 37 more drugs and 13 new Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) were launched, with medicines provided free under these programmes exempt from basic customs duty.

The Budget 2025 also proposed adding 75,000 medical college seats over five years, including 10,000 seats in FY26. The government also planned to establish 200-day care cancer centres in district hospitals within the year. The budget also set aside ₹20,000 crore for a private-sector-led research, development and innovation initiative, first announced in July 2024.