India exports COVID-19 vaccines worth about Rs. 338 crore so far: Mr. Goyal

India's COVID-19 vaccine exports stood at about Rs. 338 crore (US$ 46.43 million) until February 8, commerce and industry minister Mr. Piyush Goyal said on Friday in the Rajya Sabha.

He stated that exports include the supply of doses of the vaccine to friendly countries and industrial consignments. India first takes care of the requirement for domestic vaccines and is focused on "giving vaccines to friendly countries".

Mr. Goyal said, “As a government of India grant, the export of Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, Pune stood at 62.7 lakh doses with a FoB (free on board) value of approximately Rs. 125.4 crore (US$ 17.23 million).

Paid exports were priced at approximately Rs. 213.32 crore (US$ 29.30 million) for 1,05 crore doses.

He said, “The government has granted authorisation for the development of COVID-19 vacuum to the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech International Limited, Hyderabad.”

He added, in order to provide adequate accessibility of COVID-19 vaccines for the national vaccination programme, close cooperation is established through regular communication between relevant departments of the Government of India and vaccine manufacturers. The Ministry of Health deals with all states, and the Prime Minister interacts with all states as well.

Mr. Goyal said, “The highest vaccination priority has been granted by the government to healthcare and frontline staff.”

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.