Jan Aushadhi Kendra — Locate a PMBJP Store

What is a Jan Aushadhi Kendra?

Jan Aushadhi Kendra is the retail outlet through which the Government of India sells quality-assured generic medicines at low prices under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP). The programme is run by the Department of Pharmaceuticals in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, and the implementing agency operates the official portal at janaushadhi.gov.in.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals reported that 18,646 Jan Aushadhi Kendras had been opened across the country as of 28 February 2026, with a stated target of 25,000 Kendras by 31 March 2027. That network is what the Kendra locator searches.

A Jan Aushadhi Kendra is not a government office and not a hospital counter. It is a licensed retail pharmacy, usually run by a franchisee, an individual pharmacist, an NGO, a self-help group, a hospital trust or a Primary Agricultural Credit Society, that stocks the PMBJP product basket of generic medicines, surgical items and consumables. You walk in, hand over a prescription, and pay at the counter like at any chemist. The difference is the price: generic medicines carry no brand premium, so the same molecule typically costs a fraction of the branded equivalent.

Why the locator matters. The single biggest reason people never use Jan Aushadhi is that they do not know a Kendra exists near them. Kendras are often in side lanes, inside government hospital campuses, or attached to a co-operative society office rather than on a main-road shopfront. The locator on janaushadhi.gov.in is the only authoritative, current list: printed lists and third-party "Jan Aushadhi store list" websites go stale within months as new Kendras open and some close.

Who can use the Jan Aushadhi Kendra locator?

You can use the locator if:

• You are anyone at all. The search tool is public, needs no login, no Aadhaar, no ration card and no registration.
• You are a patient, a family member, a caregiver, an ASHA worker or a doctor looking to point patients to a nearby store.
• You are outside India and want to check whether a Kendra exists near a relative's address. The search works from any browser.

You cannot use the locator to:

• Buy medicines online. The locator only tells you where a store is. Home delivery exists only in selected cities through the Jan Aushadhi Sugam app's ordering feature and is not available nationwide.
• Reserve or hold stock. Kendra-level stock is not shown as a live, bookable inventory to the public. Phone the store first for a specific item.
• Get free medicines. PMBJP is a low-price programme, not a free-supply programme. You pay at the counter; the saving comes from the price, not from a subsidy card.

There is also no eligibility test to shop at a Kendra. Income, caste, BPL status and state of residence are all irrelevant, anybody can buy.

What do you need to search for a Jan Aushadhi Kendra?

How to find a Jan Aushadhi Kendra online

1. Open the official portal at janaushadhi.gov.in in any browser. Check the address bar carefully: several look-alike private sites use similar names.
2. Open the Jan Aushadhi Kendra menu and choose the Kendra search or store locator option.
3. Select your state, then your district, or enter your PIN code if you want a tighter radius.
4. Submit the search. The results list each Kendra with its store code, address and contact details, so you can telephone before travelling.
5. Note the store code and phone number, and call ahead to confirm the Kendra is open and stocks the specific medicine on your prescription.
6. If nothing shows for your PIN code, widen the search to the whole district: many Kendras are registered under a nearby town's PIN rather than your own.

How to find a Kendra using the mobile app or offline

1. Install the official Jan Aushadhi Sugam app from your phone's app store, published under the PMBJP programme.
2. Allow location access and use the "nearest Kendra" search, which shows stores around you on a map along with directions.
3. Use the app's medicine search to compare a generic medicine's price against the branded equivalent before you go.
4. If you have no smartphone, ask at your district hospital or community health centre — a large share of Kendras operate inside or beside government hospital campuses, and the hospital pharmacy staff know where the local one is.
5. You can also ask any existing Kendra for the location of others in the district; franchisees generally know their neighbours.

Is the Jan Aushadhi Kendra locator free?

Yes. Searching for a Kendra on janaushadhi.gov.in costs nothing, requires no account and involves no application. This matters because a class of paid "services" has grown around every government portal in India. No agent, consultant or website can legitimately charge you a fee to find a Jan Aushadhi store, to "register" you as a Jan Aushadhi customer, or to give you a Jan Aushadhi card. No such customer registration or card exists. If someone asks for money for any of these, it is a scam.

The same warning applies with more force to the separate process of opening a Kendra. Applications to become a Jan Aushadhi franchisee are made directly on janaushadhi.gov.in. Agents who promise a guaranteed allotment, or who ask for large "processing" payments outside the official portal, are not authorised by the Department of Pharmaceuticals.

How much do medicines cost at a Jan Aushadhi Kendra?

Prices are fixed centrally for the PMBJP product basket and printed on the pack, so a Kendra in Kerala charges the same as one in Bihar for the same item. The whole design of the programme is that a quality-assured generic sells well below the branded price of the same molecule, which is why the Department of Pharmaceuticals frames PMBJP as a savings programme for households with ongoing prescriptions: diabetes, blood pressure, cardiac and thyroid medication in particular.

Two practical points:

• Check the printed MRP on the pack and insist on a bill. A Kendra may not charge above the printed price.
• Ask for the generic equivalent by molecule name, not brand name. Your prescription may name a brand; the Kendra stocks the same molecule under its generic name.

What if the medicine is not available?

Stock-outs at individual Kendras are the most common complaint. In order of what actually works:

1. Ask the pharmacist to check the central supply system for the item and for an expected replenishment date.
2. Search the locator again for the next nearest Kendra, in cities there is often another within a few kilometres, and district headquarters usually have several.
3. Ask whether an alternative strength or pack size of the same molecule is in stock, which your prescribing doctor can often accept.
4. Do not accept a substitute molecule on a pharmacist's suggestion alone. Take that decision back to your doctor.

Common problems and how to fix them

• The locator shows a Kendra that has closed. Franchise outlets do shut. Phone before travelling, and report a permanently closed listing through the Contact Us page on janaushadhi.gov.in so the record can be corrected.
• No Kendra appears for your PIN code. Search by district instead. PIN-level coverage is uneven, especially in rural blocks.
• A private shop claims to be a Jan Aushadhi store. Verify the store code in the locator results. A genuine Kendra carries the official PMBJP branding and appears in the portal search.
• You are quoted a price above the printed MRP. Refuse, ask for a bill, and complain to the Kendra's district authority and through the portal's grievance route.
• A third-party website asks you to log in to see the store list. Leave it. The official locator never asks for a login.

Where to complain or get help

Grievances about a Jan Aushadhi Kendra: overcharging, refusal to give a bill, persistent stock-outs, or a store misusing the PMBJP name; should go through the Contact Us page on janaushadhi.gov.in, which carries the current helpline and email for the implementing agency. Use that page rather than a number found on a third-party site, because unofficial "Jan Aushadhi helpline" numbers circulate widely and several belong to private sellers.

For issues about the medicine itself. A suspected quality defect, an adverse reaction, a damaged batch: keep the strip, the pack and the bill, and report it through the Kendra as well as to your treating doctor, so the batch can be traced back to the manufacturer.

Finally, remember the separation of roles. The Department of Pharmaceuticals runs the programme and fixes prices; the individual Kendra is a franchisee. A problem with pricing or product quality is a programme-level matter to be raised on the portal, while a problem with service or opening hours is usually resolved faster with the franchisee directly.

Who is eligible

Jan Aushadhi Kendra involves two separate groups of people with entirely different eligibility rules: those who want to buy medicines at a Kendra, and those who want to open one. Confusing the two is the most common source of frustration, so treat them as two checklists.

To use the Kendra locator and buy medicines, you qualify if:

• You are any resident of India, or anyone abroad checking a location for a relative.
• You have no income, caste, BPL, ration card or age condition to meet. None exists.
• You need nothing on you to search the locator itself; a prescription is required only at the counter, and only for prescription-only medicines.

You do not qualify to buy at a Kendra, or the purchase will be refused, if:

• You ask for a scheduled medicine without a valid prescription. The Kendra follows the same Drugs and Cosmetics Act rules as any pharmacy.
• You ask the Kendra to hold or reserve stock against a future visit. Retail stock is sold on a walk-in basis, not booked.

To apply to open a Jan Aushadhi Kendra, you qualify if you fall into one of these categories:

• An individual holding a D.Pharm or B.Pharm qualification.
• An individual, firm or organisation that employs at least one registered pharmacist on the application.
• A non-governmental organisation, charitable society, self-help group, trust or co-operative body.
• A hospital or hospital trust running its own premises.
• A Primary Agricultural Credit Society.

You do not qualify to open a Kendra if:

• You have no registered pharmacist named on the application and do not hold a D.Pharm or B.Pharm yourself.
• You cannot show a valid Aadhaar-based identity for the applicant, since Aadhaar is a mandatory document for this application even though it is never needed to buy medicines.
• You intend to run the outlet as a purely branded-medicine chemist alongside a nominal Jan Aushadhi shelf. The licence is for a dedicated PMBJP outlet stocking the programme's product basket.

How to apply

This section covers applying to open a Jan Aushadhi Kendra, a separate process from using the store locator described earlier on this page.

1. Go to janaushadhi.gov.in and open the section for opening a new Kendra, sometimes listed under "Apply for Kendra" or a similar franchise-application menu. This step is entirely online.
2. Decide which applicant category fits you: individual pharmacist, individual employing a pharmacist, NGO or charitable society, self-help group, hospital, or Primary Agricultural Credit Society. The form asks for this category upfront.
3. Keep the following ready before you start the form, since the portal session can time out if you leave it half-filled:

• Aadhaar card of the applicant.
• Proof of pharmacist registration (D.Pharm or B.Pharm certificate, or the registered pharmacist's certificate if you are employing one).
• Proof of the proposed shop premises, since a physical retail location is part of the application.
• Registration documents of the organisation, if applying as an NGO, society, SHG, hospital or PACS rather than as an individual.

4. Fill in the applicant details, premises address and category-specific documents online, and submit the application through the portal. This part is fully online; there is no separate offline form to post.
5. After submission, the application goes to the implementing agency for scrutiny of documents and eligibility against the category you selected.
6. If your category and documents clear scrutiny, you will be contacted about the next steps in the agreement and licensing process for the outlet, which follow the implementing agency's own franchise procedure.
7. Do not pay any individual or agent outside the portal at any stage of this process. The Department of Pharmaceuticals has repeatedly warned that no one is authorised to charge a fee for allotment.

How to check your application status

There is no public locator-style tool for tracking a pending Kendra franchise application, since this is an internal review process rather than a service delivered instantly to the public. Two channels are genuinely available:

1. Through the applicant login on janaushadhi.gov.in. If you submitted the application through an account on the portal, sign back in with the same credentials to see whatever status the implementing agency has posted against your application.
2. Through the Contact Us page on janaushadhi.gov.in. Use the current helpline number or email listed there, quote your application reference and the date you submitted it, and ask for a status update. Use only the number listed on the official Contact Us page, not a number found on a third-party website, since unofficial "Jan Aushadhi helpline" numbers circulate and several belong to private sellers with no connection to the programme.

There is no SMS-based status alert system for this application described on the official channels, so a direct query through one of the two routes above is the reliable option rather than waiting for an automatic update.

Common reasons for rejection

Applications to open a Jan Aushadhi Kendra are turned down for a small number of recurring reasons, each with a concrete fix.

• No registered pharmacist on the application. An individual applicant without a D.Pharm or B.Pharm, and without a named registered pharmacist employed for the outlet, does not meet the basic eligibility condition. Fix: either complete the pharmacist qualification yourself or name and document a registered pharmacist before applying.
• Incomplete or mismatched category documents. An NGO, SHG, trust or PACS application submitted without its own registration certificate, or with an applicant category that does not match the supporting documents, gets stuck at scrutiny. Fix: confirm which category you are applying under first, then attach only the documents that category requires, matching the organisation's legal registration exactly.
• Aadhaar mismatch or missing Aadhaar. Since Aadhaar is mandatory for this application, an application without it, or with applicant details that do not match the Aadhaar record, is not processed further. Fix: verify your Aadhaar details are current before you start the form.
• Premises not clearly established. An application without a clear, verifiable address for the proposed outlet is difficult for the implementing agency to process, since the licence attaches to a specific retail location. Fix: have the premises address and proof ready, and be prepared to confirm it if contacted.
• Duplicate or overlapping applications for the same location. Where more than one applicant applies for a Kendra in a location the implementing agency judges is already adequately served, or where two applications overlap for the same premises, only one can proceed. Fix: check the existing Kendra locator for your area before applying, so you are not competing against an outlet that already covers the same location.