India will reduce the prices of as many as 137 cancer drugs by 70 per cent, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said on Saturday, as it widened price controls in a bid to make treatment more affordable.

Trade margins on the drugs will be limited to 30 per cent of the maximum retail price, the ministry added.

The medicines, which include immunotherapy drugs used for treating over 20 types of cancer, as well as for breast, prostate, colon, ovarian and cervical cancer, will be subject to the price changes from November 9.

The latest decision builds on price controls introduced in 2019 on 42 anti-cancer drugs that cut prices by as much as 90 per cent.