Serum Institute cuts vaccine price for states to Rs 300/dose
New Delhi, Apr 28: Serum Institute of India (SII) -- the maker of the most used COVID-19 vaccine in the country -- on Wednesday announced a cut in price of the jab it plans to sell to states to Rs 300 per dose from the earlier Rs 400.
This follows widespread criticism of its pricing policy as it has sold the initial doses of Covishield to the central government at Rs 150 per dose.
SII's CEO Adar Poonawalla took to Twitter to announce the "philanthropic" gesture.
"As a philanthropic gesture on behalf of @SerumInstIndia, I hereby reduce the price to the states from Rs 400 to Rs 300 per dose, effective immediately; this will save thousands of crores of state funds going forward. This will enable more vaccinations and save countless lives," he said.
According to official sources, the central government on Monday had asked SII and Bharat Biotech to lower the prices of their COVID-19 vaccines amid criticism from various states who accused the companies of profiteering during such a major crisis.
The issue of vaccine pricing was discussed at a meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba.
Many states have objected to the different prices for the vaccines.
Last week, SII had defended the pricing of the Covishield vaccine, saying the earlier price was based on advance funding and now it has to invest in scaling up and expanding capacity to produce more shots.
The company, which manufactures the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at Pune, had on April 21 announced a price of Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals and at Rs 400 for state governments and for any new contract by the central government.
"The current situation is extremely dire, the virus is constantly mutating while the public remains at risk. Identifying the uncertainty, we have to ensure sustainability as we must be able to invest in scaling up and expanding our capacity to fight the pandemic and save lives," the company had earlier said.
The government last week waived basic customs duty on import of COVID vaccines, medical grade oxygen and related equipment for three months.
India has announced expansion of its COVID-19 vaccination drive by allowing its large 18-plus population to get inoculated from May 1.
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Rupee crashes 46 paise to 92.28 against US dollar in early trade, nears all-time low
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee plummeted 46 paise to near its all-time intra-day low of 92.28 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday as global crude oil prices shot up and the greenback strengthened amid the worsening situation in the Middle East.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by a staggering 25.68 per cent at USD 116.5 per barrel in futures trade as the war between US-Israel and Iran intensified.
A big surge in FII outflows and a crash at the domestic equity market in morning trade put further pressure in the local unit, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 92.22 against the US dollar before declining further to 92.28, down 46 paise from its previous close. The rupee had hit an all-time intra-day low of 92.35 on March 4.
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The rupee depreciated 18 paise against the US dollar on Friday to close at 91.82 against the American currency.
"The rupee will remain vulnerable to the rising oil prices which have risen by more than 28 per cent since the last closure on Friday. Asian currencies were also lower on Monday," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
Rupee might touch 93.00 if oil remains above USD 100 in the coming trading sessions, he added.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.66 per cent higher at 99.64.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex crashed 2,345.89 points to 76,573.01 in early trade, while Nifty tumbled 708.75 points to 23,741.70.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 6,030.38 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, India's forex reserves jumped USD 4.885 billion to an all-time high of USD 728.494 billion during the week ended February 27, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.
