New Delhi: The Himachal Pradesh Drugs Control Administration has asked patients and the public to stop using specific batches of medicines declared ‘not of standard quality’ (NSQ) by the central drug regulator, according to the two senior government officials familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by Mint.
The alert follows the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation’s (CDSCO) September 2026 report, which flagged 330 drug samples nationwide as sub-standard. Of these, 92 originated from Himachal Pradesh manufacturers.
State health authorities confirmed that 70 of the 92 failed critical efficacy parameters—specifically assay and dissolution tests—while 22 showed minor defects, such as labelling issues. To enforce compliance, the state has ordered 96 pharmaceutical facilities to halt manufacturing, either entirely or across specific sections, pending corrective actions. The state accounts for roughly a third of India’s domestic drug supplies alongside large export volumes.
Himachal Pradesh is home to over 650 pharmaceutical manufacturing units, largely based in Baddi. About 70% of these are micro, small and medium enterprises () and 15-20% are large companies. The state accounts for about 35% of India’s total domestic drug formulations, meaning every third drug on a chemist’s shelf in India originates from Himachal Pradesh.
According to the CDSCO’s website, several widely prescribed manufactured across Solan and Baddi in Himachal Pradesh were declared NSQ after failing critical active ingredient tests:
“The volume of substandard samples must be evaluated in proportion to the state’s massive manufacturing output. Himachal Pradesh contributes to approximately one-third of domestic supplies, besides exporting big volumes of drug formulations,” Himachal Pradesh health secretary Ashish Singhmar said, pointing out that the state’s share of failed samples actually declined from 34% in July to 28% in September.
State drug controller Dr. Manish Kapoor said, “The drugs control administration, Himachal Pradesh, maintains a zero-tolerance approach towards the manufacture or distribution of substandard medicines and every effort is being made to ensure strict compliance of regulatory requirements. Following procedures laid down under the law, not only are the licences to manufacture drug formulations suspended/cancelled by the DCA HP, but at parallel, legal action(s) are also taken by the jurisdictions from where samples get drawn for the purpose of analysis/testing.”
“The enforcement is an ongoing administrative check-and-balance: these 96 actions particularly are not entirely on the latest NSQ list. It is an ongoing process where facilities are halted either due to NSQs or when other deficiencies are found during inspections. Increased detection is a positive indicator that our regulatory mechanism is strengthening,” he added.
Dr. Kapoor also pointed out that drugs often degrade after leaving factories. “There are multiple stress factors in the distribution chain—storage conditions, temperature, humidity, and rough transport—that can cause quality failure. We cannot exclusively blame only .”
Queries sent to the health ministry and the Drugs Controller General of India on Tuesday remained unanswered at the time of publishing. Queries sent to Aspo Pharmaceuticals, Alventa Pharma, Ultra Drugs, also remained unanswered, while Pharma Roots Healthcare couldn’t be contacted.
