Is Ephedrine legal in India?

Legal status

Controlled in India, but not under this name: it is not named in the Act's Schedule, and the matched entry that carries it reads «SCHEDULE A... 4. Ephedrine and its salts; SCHEDULE B... 4. Ephedrine, its salts and preparations thereof; SCHEDULE C... 4. Ephedrine, its salts and preparations thereof», in Schedules A, B and C of the Controlled Substances Order.

Consequences if caught

Section 25A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985, the NDPS Act, punishes a contravention of an order made under section 9A in three quantity bands. A small quantity carries rigorous imprisonment which may extend to 1 year. A quantity greater than small but less than commercial carries rigorous imprisonment which may extend to 10 years. A commercial quantity carries rigorous imprisonment of 10 to 20 years, and that lower figure is a statutory minimum rather than a starting point. The fine runs with the band: up to 10,000 rupees at small quantity, up to 1 lakh rupees in the middle band, and 1 lakh to 2 lakh rupees at commercial quantity, and the court may record reasons for a higher fine. Section 27 punishes consumption, with rigorous imprisonment up to 1 year and a fine up to 20,000 rupees for cocaine, morphine, diacetylmorphine and any substance notified in that behalf, and imprisonment up to 6 months and a fine up to 10,000 rupees for anything else. Every offence under the Act is cognizable, but the section 37 bail bar reaches only sections 19, 24 and 27A and offences involving a commercial quantity. Section 31 raises the ceiling to one and one half times after a previous conviction, and section 64A gives an addict charged under section 27 or with a small quantity immunity on completing recognised de-addiction treatment. No band applies to this row: section 25A carries no small, intermediate or commercial quantity at all. Section 31A does not reach this row: its table names only opium, morphine, heroin, codeine, thebaine, cocaine, hashish, LSD, the listed THC isomers, methamphetamine, methaqualone and amphetamine, with their salts and preparations, and this row is not among them. Section 25A carries no quantity bands at all: rigorous imprisonment which may extend to 10 years and a fine which may extend to 1 lakh rupees, with the court able to record reasons for more. The offence is a contravention of the Controlled Substances Order, made under section 9A. Those figures are given because this row is placed outside that regime, so they are recorded as India's published drug penalties and not as this substance's exposure.

If prescribed or medical

It is sold in India as an ordinary medicine and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 applies alongside the NDPS Act; carry the prescription and the original packaging for anything beyond a personal supply.

Documentation

A controlled substance is a precursor, not a narcotic drug and not a psychotropic substance. India's Controlled Substances Order is the domestic implementation of the precursor obligations that the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic created; the instrument read for this cell is the Order itself and not that Convention. Schedule A subjects manufacture, distribution, sale, purchase, possession, storage and consumption to the Order's controls; Schedule B covers export and Schedule C import. Those three markers are not printed in the quoted extract of the Act's own Schedule, because they belong to the 2013 Order, which the consolidation prints at its pages 177 to 178A. India's essential narcotic drugs for medical and scientific use, notified under section 2(viiia) by S.O. 1181(E) of 5 May 2015, are codeine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, methadone, morphine and oxycodone; a traveller carrying one should carry the prescription with the original packaging, bring only a reasonable personal quantity and declare it at customs. Tramadol was added to the Act's psychotropic Schedule in 2018 and its commercial quantity is 250 g. This reading is stated as at the Central Bureau of Narcotics consolidation of the Act and Rules labelled updated 2026, which prints the Schedule as amended through S.O. 1730(E) of 16 April 2025, read with S.O. 906(E) of 18 February 2026, and it does not rule out a later notification.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with India’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.