Commonly used medicines to get costlier from April 1

Starting April 1, prices of some commonly used drugs are likely to be hiked by 12 percent. Due to a sharp rise in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), prices of over 1,000 formulations of essential medicines and 384 drugs are expected to increase starting today.

The notification about the hike is expected anytime now, the report said, adding that this will be the second year in a row that the costs of essential medicines have gone up by more than 10 percent.