In Budget 2026, the government has announced relief for cancer treatment. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that basic customs duty on 17 cancer-related medicines will be removed. The aim is to make life-saving drugs affordable, especially for patients who depend on imported medicines for serious cancer treatment.
While presenting the budget, the Finance Minister said this step will directly reduce the prices of key medicines used in cancer care. She explained that imported cancer drugs earlier attracted customs duty, which pushed up their market prices.
List of cancer medicines covered
The medicines include Ribociclib, Abemaciclib, Talycabtagene autoleucel, Tremelimumab, Venetoclax, Ceritinib, Brigatinib, Darolutamide, Toripalimab, Serplulimab, Tislelizumab, Inotuzumab ozogamicin, Ponatinib, Ibrutinib, Dabrafenib, Trametinib and Ipilimumab.
According to trusted source Lallantop, the Finance Minister said removing customs duty will help lower drug costs and reduce the financial burden on patients. Since these medicines come from abroad, the tax removal is expected to make treatment more affordable.
Apart from this, seven more rare diseases have been included under customs duty relief. Imported special medicines and required food items for these diseases will also be exempted from import duty, helping patients who rely on foreign treatments.
Medical industry experts welcomed the move but warned that overall cancer treatment costs remain high due to hospital stays, tests and supportive care. This shows the need for a wider healthcare funding plan.
The budget also focuses on the health sector. Under the BioPharma SHAKTI scheme, the government will invest ₹10,000 crore over five years to develop India as a global biopharma manufacturing hub. Three new NIPER institutes will be set up, and seven existing ones will be upgraded into a biopharma-focused network.