Good news comes amid the second wave of coronaviruses. The government may waive 10% customs duty on the import of a vaccine. A senior government official says that private companies can also be allowed to import the vaccine.
If the government takes these decisions, then it will be easy to provide adequate dose of vaccine in the country. The government has approved the import of Russia’s Sputnik-V vaccine. This vaccine may come to India soon. In addition, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have also been asked to send their vaccines.
Currently, many Asian countries are levying import duty of up to 10% -20% on vaccine imports. It includes countries like Nepal and Pakistan. Apart from this, the Latin American countries Argentina and Brazil are also charging import duty of up to 20% on the import of covid vaccine. Basic custom duty on import of covid vaccine in India is 10%. It is charged at 10% Social Welfare Surcharge and 5% IGST.
Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is going to be imported soon. Approval has been given by the government. The government has also asked Pfizer (PFE.N), Modern (MRNA.O) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) to send their vaccines to India as well.
Reuters has been told that the government is considering approving the import of the vaccine to private companies as well. These companies will be able to sell this vaccine in the open market. These companies can be allowed to fix the price of the vaccine. The government has control over the purchase and sale of Covid-19 vaccine in the country.
4500 crore credit approval for vaccine manufacture-
In order to increase vaccination in the country, the Finance Ministry has approved the supply of credit to Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India (SII) on Monday.
The credit will be approved first for the nodal ministers in charge of Covid-19, then it will be handed over to the two companies to produce the vaccine. The Ministry has given a credit of Rs 3,000 crore for Serum Institute of India and Rs 1,500 crore for Bharat Biotech .