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Govt proposes amendment of rules to allow drug imports through Navi Mumbai International Airport
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Gireesh Babu, New Delhi
February 02 , 2026
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The Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) may soon add the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), Maharashtra, a part of Adani Airports Holdings Limited, as an authorised airport for drug import, under the relevant provision of the Drugs Rules, 1945. Once finalised, this is expected to be the 12th airport in the country to be authorised by the Ministry under the Rules, for import of drugs.
The Ministry has issued a draft amendment to the rules, after consultation with the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), stating that the draft will be taken into consideration on or after the expiry of a period of 30 days from the date on which it is published in the Gazette of India and made available to the public.
Objections and suggestions which may be received from any person within the period will be considered by the Central government. The amendment will come into force on the date of its final publication in the Official Gazette.
According to the draft, the Ministry proposes that in the Drugs Rules, 1945, in Rule 43A, for the words "Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram", the words "Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram and Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) in Raigad, Maharashtra" shall be substituted.
NMIAL is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), a subsidiary of Adani Airports Holdings Limited (AAHL), which holds the majority stake of 74%, while the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (CIDCO), a Government of Maharashtra undertaking, holds the remaining 26%.
Spanning over 1,160 hectares (2,866 acres), on completion, NMIA is designed to handle 90 million passenger per annum (MPPA). In the initial phase, NMIA will have the capacity to manage 20 MPPA and 0.5 million metric tonnes of cargo annually, according to a press release by the Adani Airports in June, 2025.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has in the year 2025, requested the agencies regulating imports to permit the entry of drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics consignments to the country only through the ports notified under the Drugs Rules, 1945.
The Ministry had notified listing of Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram airports, in Kerala, as places through where drugs can be imported by air under the Drugs Rules, 1945, in May, 2024.
According to Rule 43 A of the Drugs Rules, drug imports are restricted through select roads, railway routes, sea ports, and airports in the country. Imports by air are restricted to Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Goa, Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam, Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram.
Drugs imported through rail across the frontier with Pakistan is allowed only through Ferozepur Cantonment and Amritsar railway stations; from Bangladesh through Ranaghat, Bongaon and Mohiassan railway stations; from Bangladesh by road through Petrapole Road in West Bengal, Sutarkandi in Assam, old Raghna Bazar and Agartala in Tripura; and from Nepal through Raxaul.
Drugs imported by sea into India are only allowed through the ports of Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Cochin, Nhava Sheva, Kandla; Inland Container Depots (ICDs) at Tuglakabad and Patparganj in Delhi; Tuticorin and Kamarajar Port in Tamil Nadu; Marmugao port in Goa; Visakhapatnam, Krishnapatnam and Gangavaram ports in Andhra Pradesh; Hazira port and ICD in Khodiyar, Gandhinagar and Mundra port in Gujarat; and ICD at Dhannad and Tihi, and Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
Drugs, consignments of which are in transit through India to foreign countries and which shall not be sold or distributed in India shall be exempted from the requirements of imports under the Chapter III of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and related rules, says Rule 43 B of the Drugs Rules. This is provided that if the government of the countries to which the drugs are consigned regulate their import by the grant of import licences, the importer shall at the time of import into India, produce such import licenses.
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