By Oommen C Kurian
Incentives put in place by Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana to attract the establishment of Kendras in lesser-developed areas have started to work
The Brookings India study noted that districts with no Jan Aushadhi Kendras were concentrated in rural, less-developed areas. Therefore, it will be good to look at the current status of the distribution of Kendras in the least developed districts of the country. The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP), launched by NITI Aayog in 2018, aims to accelerate development in 112 underdeveloped districts across India. These districts were selected based on low performance in key socio-economic indicators such as health, education, agriculture, financial inclusion, and infrastructure. Analysis of the latest PMBJP data shows that 60 aspirational districts have more than 10 Kendras, and just eight (7 per cent) have a single Kendra.
Figure 3: Number of Jan Aushadhi Kendras in Aspirational Districts (2025)
Jan Aushadhi S Rapid Expansion A Sub National Analysis
Source: PMBJP (no. of outlets)
Compared with the 653 more developed districts, the proportion of districts with more than 10 Jan Aushadhi Kendras is understandably much higher, as earlier studies have shown that stores are more likely to be opened in more developed areas. However, somewhat counterintuitively, the proportion of districts with a single Kendra is higher in the more developed districts (9 per cent) than in the aspirational districts (7 per cent). This suggests that the incentives put in place by PMBJP to attract the establishment of Kendras in lesser-developed areas have started to work.
Figure 4: Number of Jan Aushadhi Kendras in other districts (2025)
Jan Aushadhi S Rapid Expansion A Sub National Analysis
Source: PMBJP (no. of outlets)
The way forward
Out of the Rs 1.5 lakh crores worth of annual sales of medicines in India, the sales of Jan Aushadhi Kendras at around Rs 1500 crore remains small. However, over the last decade, it has expanded from a mere Rs 33 crore to about Rs 1500 crore and shows tremendous potential for further growth. Moreover, given the considerably lower price of the medicines, the Kendras cause savings that are many times the monetary value of sales. On an average, every rupee spent at a Jan Aushadhi shop leads to around six rupees of savings for the household. Over the years, PMBJP has played a role, along with initiatives like PMJAY, in bringing down spending on healthcare in India, from 64.2 per cent in 2013-14 to 39.4 per cent in 2021-22. The decline is expected to continue as these schemes mature in the future.
A parliamentary committee report in 2021 stated that stock outs caused by hurdles in timely procurement of medicines due to the failure of suppliers have been a major constraint. Around 90 per cent suppliers of PMBJP used to be from MSME sector who struggled to absorb the fluctuations in prices of raw materials, and defaults in supply in times of stress. Remedial measures have been taken, and most of the large Indian companies that dominate the global generics market are now supplying to Jan Aushadhi Kendras through a strong and expanding network of warehouses and distributors.
Medicines for PMBJP are procured only from World Health Organisation–Good Manufacturing Practices (WHO-GMP) certified suppliers, and each batch of drugs is tested at laboratories accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration of Laboratories (NABL) before they are sent to the Kendras. While things improve on the regulatory front, there is a lingering constraint of perception among the doctors and the general public about the quality of generic medicines. In the Indian market, a higher price is often mistaken as a proxy for higher quality. Focused high-profile campaigns are being conducted to remedy the situation, as average sales per Kendra have grown four times over the last decade alongside a rapid expansion of Kendras.
Efforts to improve public perception of the quality of generic medicines apart, India needs to accelerate the process of strengthening the drug regulatory system and align it to internationally accepted standards.
There is an urgent need to expand the number of Jan Aushadhi Kendras in the 71 districts –many less developed, far-to-reach, border, arid, tribal, or districts with a history of political violence and insurgency. Also, there needs to be a zero-tolerance policy towards fake medicines and other pharmaceutical crimes, as public trust in the system is built on years of experience, and strong action is required to undo the impact of decades of a weak regulatory ecosystem within the pharmaceutical sector.
