Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP) is published by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) on behalf of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India in fulfillment of the requirements of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules 1945 thereunder. IP is recognized as the official book of standards for the drugs being manufactured and/or marketed in India. IP contains a collection of authoritative procedures of analysis and specifications of drugs for their identity, purity and strength. The standards of the IP are authoritative in nature and are enforced by the regulatory authorities for ensuring the quality of drugs in India. During quality assurance and at the time of dispute in the court of law the IP standards are legally acceptable. 

Initially Government of India had set up Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia Committee (APC), Siddha Pharmacopoeia Committee (SPC), Unani Pharmacopoeia Committee (UPC) and Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia Committee (HPC) in the years 1962, 1975, 1964 and 1962 respectively. These Pharmacopoeia Committees were working independently to publish respective Formularies and Pharmacopoeias. The four Pharmacopoeia Committees having their secretariats at respective Research Councils under Ministry of AYUSH were brought under the auspices of PCIM&H with establishment of the later.

A fully illustrated reference guide on medicinal plants and their therapeutic properties explains how the plants work, how herbal medicine was developed, and how to use home remedies to relieve common ailments, and features a unique photographic index that profiles more than 550 plants from around the world.