A panel of Indian ministers has proposed price controls on 348 drugs in what could be India’s first effort in 17 years to regulate the prices of drugs.

The panel set up by the Indian government recommended last week that the maximum price of a drug should be the weighted average price of the brands that command more than 1% of the market share of the product. Weighting will be according to the market share of each brand.

But public health professionals and pharmaceutical experts have expressed concern that the proposed price capping mechanism is likely to help the drug industry and have little effect on the nation’s expenditure on drugs.

The panel disregarded suggestions from India’s health ministry and public health groups that price caps should be determined by production costs, with additional sums to account for the costs …