New Delhi, May 21 -- The Centre is weighing an emergency, one-time increase in prices of around 300 essential medicines as the West Asia war disrupts supplies of petrochemical-based pharmaceutical inputs and drives up manufacturing costs, according to two government officials and two industry executives.

The increase, which is being discussed between the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), and the commerce ministry, would be rolled back once supply chains stabilize, they said.

The medicines under discussion include antibiotics and anti-infectives (amoxicillin, azithromycin), cardiac drugs (amlodipine, atorvastatin), and analgesics (paracetamol), besides other essential and life-savi...