A wholesale medicine market is a street or block of licensed wholesalers where chemists, clinics and stockists buy stock over the counter, usually the same day, at whatever rate is on offer that day. Every large city has one. Delhi’s is Bhagirath Palace, Mumbai’s is Dava Bazaar off Princess Street, Lucknow’s is Aminabad and Patna’s is Govind Mitra Road.
The alternative is direct supply from a wholesaler or a company. You send an order, it is dispatched to you, and the rate comes from a list that holds for the agreed term. Most working chemists use both. The useful question is which products go through which channel.
How a wholesale market works
Each shop holds a wholesale Drug Licence, Forms 20B and 21B, and sells to other licence holders: retail chemists, hospitals, nursing homes and other licensed buyers. Carry a copy of your licence. A wholesaler who does not ask for it is one to be careful with.
You buy by the strip or the box, pay in cash or on whatever credit the shop has extended to you, and leave with a tax invoice showing batch number and expiry against each line. Check the invoice before you leave. A missing batch number is hard to fix from across town.
Rates are quoted on the spot and move with supply. The rate you were quoted on Monday is a Monday rate.
The main markets
| City | Market | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi | Bhagirath Palace | Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi; Chandni Chowk metro. Described as India’s largest wholesale medicine market (ThePrint). |
| Mumbai | Dava Bazaar, Princess Street | South Mumbai, near Crawford Market and Lohar Chawl |
| Lucknow | Aminabad | Central Lucknow |
| Patna | Govind Mitra Road (GM Road) | Central Patna |
Closing days and hours differ from market to market and change without much notice. Ask a shop you deal with before you travel. Lists of “top ten wholesalers” in any of these markets are advertising; the checks below are what tell you whether a shop is worth your custom.
How to pick a shop inside the market
- Ask for the Drug Licence number and the GST number. Check the GSTIN on the portal while you stand there; it takes a minute.
- Look at the invoice format before you buy. Batch, expiry and GSTIN on every line, or walk on.
- Ask who manufactures the brand you are buying. The pack names the manufacturer and the licence number; a wholesaler who cannot say has not looked.
- Buy one box first. The same test you would run on a supplier, in how to verify a pharma supplier, works on a shop.
Market or direct supply: the differences
| Wholesale market | Direct supply | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Same day. You carry it out. | Dispatched to you. Ask the supplier for the usual time to your district. |
| Rate | Quoted on the day, moves with supply | From a rate list, held for the agreed term |
| Quantity | Strip or box, no minimum | Usually a minimum order, in cartons |
| Credit | Whatever the shop extends, usually unwritten | Agreed in writing before the first order |
| Documentation | Tax invoice with batch and expiry | Invoice, plus batch documentation with the consignment |
| Range | What is on the shelf that day | The supplier’s full list, fast-moving or not |
| Returns and expiry | Shop by shop | Policy in writing |
The rate row gets the most attention. A market rate can be lower on a given day. A list rate is known before you quote your own customer, which is the number that matters when you have promised a hospital a price for the quarter.
What the market is good for
- Urgent fills. A prescription at the counter that you cannot fill from stock.
- Odd items. A product you sell twice a year and have no reason to hold.
- Trying a brand. One strip to see whether your prescribers accept it before you place a case order.
- Anything your supplier does not carry.
If you need ten strips by this evening, go to your market. Our dispatch cannot beat a shop two streets away, and a ten-strip order costs you more in freight than it makes you in margin.
What direct supply is good for
The products you reorder every month. For those, the point of direct supply is that the rate and the dispatch are settled once, and the next order is a message rather than a trip.
- Repeat lines. Antibiotics, cardiac, gastro and the rest of the counter’s regular reorders.
- Volume. Case quantities at a list rate, with the invoice and batch documentation in the carton.
- Credit on paper. Terms agreed before the first order, so neither side is remembering a conversation.
- Franchise stock. If you hold a PCD territory, your stock comes from the company. The market cannot sell you your own brand.
What you need to buy in either channel
A Drug Licence. Retail chemists hold Forms 20 and 21; wholesalers and stockists hold Forms 20B and 21B. GST registration lets you set the 5 per cent paid on most medicines since 22 September 2025 (All India Radio) against the tax collected on your own sales. Our guide to documents required for a PCD pharma franchise lists the forms and the competent-person rule in full.
How to compare a quote from each
Compare landed cost per strip. For the direct quote, add freight. For the market quote, add your travel and the credit you are not getting. Then ask the direct supplier how long dispatch takes to your district and whether the rate holds for the term.
Questions buyers ask
Where is the wholesale medicine market in Delhi?
Bhagirath Palace, in Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, reached from Chandni Chowk metro station. It is described as India’s largest wholesale market for medicines. Wholesalers there sell to Drug Licence holders, so carry a copy of yours.
Where is the wholesale medicine market in Mumbai?
Dava Bazaar, off Princess Street in South Mumbai, near Crawford Market and Lohar Chawl. Dava means medicine; the area also sells surgical and laboratory goods.
Where is the wholesale medicine market in Lucknow?
Aminabad, in central Lucknow.
Where is the wholesale medicine market in Patna?
Govind Mitra Road, usually called GM Road, in central Patna.
Can I buy from a wholesale medicine market without a Drug Licence?
No. A wholesale licence holder may sell only to other licence holders: retail chemists, hospitals and other licensed buyers. Carry a copy of your licence and expect to be asked for it.
Is the market rate cheaper than a supplier’s rate?
Sometimes, on a given day. A market rate is quoted on the spot and moves with supply. A supplier’s list rate is held for the agreed term. Compare landed cost per strip, including freight on one side and your travel and credit on the other.
Send us your monthly reorder list
Tablets, capsules, syrups and injectables across 25+ therapeutic ranges, in wholesale supply since 2000. Send the products you reorder every month and we will quote each one in writing, with the dispatch time to your district.
Market names and areas checked on 8 October 2026. Closing days and hours change; confirm before you travel. This is general information, not legal advice.