National Formulary of India (NFI)

The National Formulary of India is essentially meant for the guidance of the members of the
medical and pharmaceutical profession; medical students, nurses and pharmacists etc. working in hospitals, dispensaries and in sales establishments. In the preparation of this Formulary, the expert opinion of medical practitioners, teachers in medicine, nurses, pharmacists etc. has been obtained. The selection of drugs for inclusion in the National Formulary has been made taking into consideration the relative advantages and disadvantages of the various drugs used in current medical practice and their availability in the country. Thus, the National Formulary of India represents a broad consensus of expert opinion in respect of drugs and their formulations and provides the physicians with carefully selected therapeutic agents which form the basis of rational drug therapy.

The National Formulary of India is an authoritative guide to prescribing, dispensing and
administering medicines. It will be useful for framing national drug policies in the country. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India vide its notification F. No. X. 11035/2/06-DFQC, dated 8^th May 2008 assigned this mandatory
responsibility to the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Ghaziabad to publish NFI on regular
basis. The IPC has published four consecutive editions of National Formulary of India since its formation. The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission has published the 4 ^th Edition, 5 ^th Edition, 6 ^th Edition and 7 ^th Edition of NFI.

Chronology of National Formulary of India (NFI):
The Chronology of Publication of National Formulary of India is as follows: -

1. First Edition of NFI – National Formulary of India, 1960
2. Second Edition of NFI –National Formulary of India, 1966
3. Third Edition of NFI – National Formulary of India, 1979
4. Fourth Edition of NFI – National Formulary of India, 2011
5. Fifth Edition of NFI – National Formulary of India, 2016
6. Sixth Edition of NFI – National Formulary of India, 2021
7. Seventh Edition of NFI (Current Edition) – National Formulary of India, 2026