New Delhi: The Centre has overhauled the fee structure for the testing of drugs, vaccines and traditional medicines at government laboratories for the first time in a decade, sharply raising charges to align them with the rising cost of advanced biomedical analysis. The revised rates, which are two to four times higher in many cases, aim to strengthen the capacity of government testing facilities and support stricter quality oversight across the pharmaceutical sector.
As per the new fee structure detailed in a government order dated 22 May 2026, which was seen by Mint, the new rates will come into force across the country from August 2026. Manufacturing units and testing facilities will thus have three months to align their financial operations accordingly. Prior to the move, the draft rules had been published for public feedback on 22 January 2026.
Under the plan, the health and family welfare ministry has issued the Drugs (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026, establishing a uniform pricing model designed to match the actual, rising costs of modern testing. The new regulations replace the fee schedules under the legacy Drugs Rules, 1945, a move set to significantly impact the country's $50 billion pharmaceutical industry.
Currently, the Schedule B of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, mentions the existing fee for tests or analysis by the Central Drugs Laboratories and State Drug Laboratories. The government finalized the updated fees after extensive consultation with the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), a key drug expert panel.
“The government is entirely substituting the old schedules under the Drugs Rules to reflect modern laboratory expenses. These fees have been comprehensively revised because the previous rates were heavily undervalued and failed to keep pace with the high costs of sophisticated equipment, reagents, and advanced biomedical analysis required today,” a senior government official said.
Sharp hikes
According to the notification, the rate for testing dangerous toxicity levels in mice has been increased from ₹800 to a new fee of ₹25,000, and similarly, the rate for general safety and basic toxicity checks has been hiked from ₹200 to ₹5,000.
The cost for basic cleanliness and sterility testing for liquid medical preparations has gone up from ₹100 to ₹1,000-2,000.
The new rules set flat, updated rates for routine safety checks, moving away from old token prices. Testing the strength and stability of important vaccines, such as the oral polio vaccine, rotavirus, and influenza shots, has been increased to a standard ₹20,000.
Combined vaccines, such as the tetanus and diphtheria shots, will now cost ₹45,000 to test, compared with the older rates of under ₹1,000. Routine quality checks for everyday medicines have also been modified, with basic tablet or capsule dissolving tests rising from older double-digit rates to cost between ₹100 and ₹200.
The notification also introduces a parallel, highly rigorous fee schedule for traditional and herbal formulations through the Pharmacopoeial Laboratory for Indian Medicine, drafted in close consultation with the AYUSH ministry.
Under the new guidelines, government laboratories will charge ₹2,000 to screen traditional products for toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic, while a comprehensive scan to detect harmful pesticide residues will now cost ₹6,000.
Moreover, the regulation said all prescribed testing and analysis costs will automatically go up by 5% every year. This compounding annual increase ensures that state and central laboratories remain properly funded to maintain high diagnostic standards without needing constant legislative updates.
Queries sent to the health ministry spokesperson and the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) office on Saturday remained unanswered until press time.
“This notification revises the testing charges for analytical services carried out by government laboratories. It also provides for a 5% annual revision," said Viranchi Shah, national spokesperson for the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA), which represents more than 1,200 member companies. "Usually, such tests are required to be done by government testing laboratories in cases where industry or public testing laboratories do not have the capability, or in case of legal issues related to quality-related disputes. This will enable the government testing laboratories to get a higher return for their analytical skills and efforts.”